


Stolen - Post SUF Fanfic

by Dimonds456



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon), steven universe future - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Bluebird the cockroach, Connie for therapy 2020, Connie is best girl, Connverse Fluff, Electric Torture, Emerald NEEDS to sort out her priorities, Emerald being a 90’s anime villain, Emerald is the main villain, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Gem Steven, Greg being a good dad, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, I will add tags as we go, Lars of the Stars, Michigan, Music, Original Song, Other, Peridot being a sweetheart, Road Trip, Singing, Steven Universe Future, Steven gets his gem removed, Steven getting split, Stevens road trip, Steven’s Road Trip, The off colors - Freeform, Trying to write so many characters at once is really hard, connverse - Freeform, gem tech, human steven, major character near-death, post steven universe future, post-suf, space travel, steven gets his gem ripped out, steven x therapy, this just got really star trek, who wants to go on a ROAD TRIP
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 36,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24191680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dimonds456/pseuds/Dimonds456
Summary: On his road trip, Steven is really coming into his own. Life is pretty good, and only getting better! That is, until an unexpected visitor sneaks into his motel room that night...Join the Crystal Gems once again as they face a danger unlike anything they’ve faced before. Featuring many returning villains in the show, a few redemption arcs, and a few familiar faces that did NOT get enough screen time.WARNING: MAJOR CHARACTER NEAR-DEATH, with a possible actual death, but I won’t spoil that for you. ;)UPDATE: This fic is being revised, as I went way too goddamn fast at first. If you see an (UPDATE: MM/DD/YYYY), that means it’s the updated version of that chapter and is thus improved. If that’s not there, you’re caught up haha. I’ll say when you don’t need to look for that anymore! Okay, I’m done, now enjoy!
Relationships: Bispearl, Connverse, Pearl x Bismuth, Ruby X Sapphire, Ruphire - Relationship, Steven Universe x Connie Maheswaran, Steven Universe/Connie Maheswaran
Comments: 67
Kudos: 110





	1. Happily Ever After, After All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven sets up a picnic and talks about the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEFORE WE BEGIN:  
> \- Steven is 17, Connie is 16.  
> \- “Macinac” is irl Michigan.  
> \- “Landing” is irl Lansing.  
> \- “Cherry City” is irl Traverse City (known for hosting the Cherry Festival and often referred to as “Cherry City” irl!)  
>  \- “Ausable Lake” is a mixture of town or three towns together, but named after the Ausable River that runs through the center of Michigan’s geography.
> 
> (UPDATE 6/5/2020: I added in a few paragraphs, but overall, the chapter is the same. I added a bit more to Steven’s point of view, and gave him a few hobbies.)
> 
> All that out of the way, ENJOY!

_Here I am in the future._

_Here I am in the future, and it’s bright._

_Nothing to fear, no one to fight._

_I see_

_The light_

_As dark takes flight_

_Happily ever after, after all._

Steven hummed along to the familiar tune, the words forever in his mind. He smiled at the new reprise to them, however, knowing that, at long last, it was true. His happily ever after had finally arrived, long overdue in everyone’s opinion, and he was grateful for that. Months on the road and even longer in therapy had really turned him around, and so many new possibilities opened to him every single day that it was hard to keep track! He knew that his work was never really done, but for now, for at least a few more months, it finally could be.

Nervously, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. _12:28 PM._ She’d be here any minute now. 

Steven quickly surveyed the table: a nice checkered picnic blanket, a plastic vase with a small bouquet of fake, color flowers poking out of it, two plates, two cups, and two sets of utensils. The food was on the way, as it was her turn to bring it this time. All Steven had to do was wait impatiently for her to arrive.

To pass the time, he had already written out a full version of that reprise on paper, and proofed it. He didn’t usually write songs down, but it had been something his therapist recommended. Songs were sung from the heart, especially improvised songs like he usually sang, and so writing their lyrics down was a good way to keep track of his state of mind. As songs and tunes came to him, he’d constantly been writing them down, even buying blank music sheet books for when a new vibe struck him. Turns out, it was filling up pretty quickly. He had five new original songs written down now, even though he just got the book three weeks ago. He needed a piano or a guitar of some kind to really test them out, but he was happy with his music so far.

Maybe that was something he could persue. His father had done it, Sadie did it, the Cool Kids did it. Oftentimes, people would tell Steven that he has a unique ear for music few other people have; the ability to just come up with songs on the spot wasn’t that common, and people who could do it usually weren’t nearly as good at it as he was. Besides, he _liked_ singing, a lot, and was really good at it. He had ways of getting his name out there, and an experienced background, if that was truly what he wanted to do. 

Sadie and Shep would be coming through, soon. Maybe he could stay in Mackinac until they arrived? It’d be cool to talk to them anyways, maybe get some advise. Maybe he could tag along with them for a while? So many possibilities!

He’d also discovered that he liked writing in general. He’d never really done any writing before, but putting down his lyrics was proving to be a lot of fun. Poetry would be another easy thing for him to do if he wanted, and as he went through state after state, a few story ideas had popped into his mind. He could base an entire novel on his rather lengthy stay in Charm City, and a few other one-offs with people have given him a fair share of inspiration.

He’d also found he liked photography. His phone was filled to the brim of beautiful sunsets, rich green forests, overshadowed mountains, unique cloud formations, and colorful lakes reflecting the sunset (come to think of it, he had a LOT of sunset photos). Animals of all shapes and sizes sneaked into his gallery, among them being birds caught mid-flight, a family of deer in the forest, a colony of bunnies chilling out in a plain, and a picture he was really proud of that featured a salmon leaping out of a river over a small waterfall no more than four inches tall; too small to be a torrent, but just big enough to still look cool. 

Cooking was something else he enjoyed from before, but he’s yet to explore the topic more on the road yet. Maybe he could get a job for a few weeks at a restaurant? He wasn’t sure; meats were a human favorite, but not really his thing. Maybe cooking meats would be okay, but he wasn’t going to eat what he made afterward, which so far, had steered him away from the idea altogether. But, you never know until you try, right? Maybe one of these days…

The teen was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard a portal opening behind him. Turning, he saw a familiar pink lion leap through, materializing out of nowhere. His near-white mane flowed majestically out behind him, tail streaming, as he made his entrance. He skidded along the dirt, feeling the grass under his paws as he slowed down. The creature looked up at Steven, chuffing a friendly hello.

Steven’s heart swelled when another face appeared, poking up from behind Lion’s mane. Her medium-short brown hair fell over her shoulders, framing her equally dark eyes. Today, she wore a nice button-up, purple T-shirt and jean shorts; nice and simple. She smiled, and gave a small wave.

“Hey, Steven!”

“Connie!” Steven stood up from the table, careful not to knock it around too much, before walking over to her. Connie dismounted off of Lion’s back, turned around, and the two embraced. They each gave a light squeeze before pulling away, their hands unmoving however as they looked at each other. Steven smiled. “How’ve you been?”

Connie shrugged a bit. “Same old same old. Mom is _really_ getting on my case about scholarships these days.”

“Oh, boy,” Steven grumbled dramatically. 

Connie rolled her eyes, turning back to Lion to grab something still positioned on his back. “I _know._ I’m applying for some every week these days, but she’s still just _gotta be sure._ I’m pretty sure I got it, _Mom.”_

“Eh, you’ll get plenty. I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” Steven supplied, shrugging. “Those colleges are gonna be fighting over you, you know.”

“Steven!” Connie frowned at him jokingly. “You, endorsing fighting? That’s a new one.” She pulled the basket over, gripping the handle with a free hand. The other found Steven’s, and the two started walking back to the picnic table Steven had set up. “Besides, it’s only gonna get worse. No matter how many I apply for, Mom’s _still_ going to be on my back about getting more.”

“She just wants to make sure you can get into a good school without paying too much.”

“I know, I know, but still.” Connie placed the basket on the table, getting a good look at the arrangement. “Wow, you’ve really outdone yourself this time. What’s the occasion?”

Steven grinned. “Nothing too much, I just… wanted to talk about some things I’ve had on my mind. Get your opinion on a few things, maybe chat for a little longer than usual, y’know.” He rubbed the back of his neck nervously, realizing how suspicious he must sound. “I mostly just wanted to make it look nice.”

Curious, Connie cocked an eyebrow. “Okay… well, we can do that later. For now, sandwiches.” She opened the lid to the basket and pulled out two sandwiches, one with bacon and the other without. Each was wrapped in a plastic zip-up bag, and cut in two across the corners. “Tada! LTs for two, with a side order of B on mine.”

Steven laughed. “‘LTs’?”

“I thought it was a good name for it,” Connie shrugged, setting Steven’s down on the closet plate. “Fitting, at least.”

“Well, thanks! I’m sure I will enjoy this _‘LT’_ very much.” Steven sat down, swinging his legs under the table. Connie did the same, sitting across from him with her sandwich. She reached into the basket again and pulled out a half gallon of brand lemonade, freshly bought. She broke the seal, pouring some into her own cup before passing it to Steven.

“So, how have things been with you recently? How’s that songbook idea coming along?”

Steven’s grin widened. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk with you about.” He poured his glass near full, then set the lemonade jug in the center of the table. “I’m really liking it. I haven’t gotten the chance to work out the notes on an actual instrument yet, but from how they sound in my head, they’re pretty good.”

Connie giggled. “If you say so. But, didn’t you _bring a guitar_ with you?”

“Just because I _have_ it doesn’t mean I’ve _played_ it.”

“You shock me, Universe,” Connie near deadpanned, trying and failing to hide her amused smile. 

“Hey, there’s been a lot to do out here! I haven’t had a whole lot of time to really sit down and play!” Steven’s smile could not falter. He playfully shook his head before looking up. He swept an arm around, gesturing to the scenery. “I’m thinking about staying here in Mackinac for a while more. It’s really pretty and quiet out here, and everyone has been really nice. The locals say that winter gets pretty extreme, so I want to come back for that and see how it is, but this place is pretty high up on my list of possible places to stay.” 

Connie took a second to look around. This state did seem really nice. It was mostly forest, with a bunch of lakes scattered around here and there. The main thing that made this one stand out, though, was the water formations around it. The whole thing was a peninsula, two more accurately, and it was known for its crazy weather. But from the pictures she’d seen online of this place, Connie knew that beauty was the best features of Mackinac. Fall oranges, to summer greens, to pure white winters, the whole color palette was absolutely gorgeous. 

Here, they were sitting in a clearing with the freeway nearby. There were a few miscellaneous picnic tables scattered around, and a tree line not too far away. The sky was a vibrant blue, with a few fluffy clouds dotting it, and the breeze made the trees in the back rustle softly. The chatter of birds could be heard loud and clear, as well as a few other nature sounds. Cars driving by competed for loudest noise, but they were quick to fade away.

Connie nodded. “It _is_ beautiful here.”

Steven picked up a fork, fidgeting with it for a second. “I mean, I like the big cities. There aren’t a whole lot of those out here, and they’re all downstate, but I don’t think I could _live_ there. The noise was never ending, and the air was thicker than it is out here.” He took in the surrounding scenery as well. “No one said I couldn’t visit there, anyways. Empire will always be a few states away, as will Beach City.” 

Connie blinked. “You thinking about staying here?”

“Not forever. Not yet.” Steven’s gaze returned to her. “I just want to stop here for a little bit longer. I’ve been staying in a small town not too far from here, and I want to maybe just rest up for a while? I want to wait for Sadie and Shep to get here so I can talk music stuff with them. They’re going to be playing in Landing soon, and after that, Cherry City.”

“Your dad will be here soon too, then,” Connie added, nodding in understanding.

Steven smiled lightly. “Yeah. Him too.”

“You’ve got a whole _staff_ of music advise coming for you,” Connie chuckled. Smirking, she added; “You might want to take _notes.”_

“Not a bad idea,” Steven hummed to himself in thought. “Maybe I could-“ he stopped, realizing what she said. “Ohh, _sharp_ as ever, Ms. Maheswaran.”

“It took you a _second_ to catch on to that one,” Connie grinned. She leaned back, crossing her arms. “I’d say you fell a little _flat.”_

“You _treble_ -maker! You better watch out before I settle into a _rhythm_. No one can _beat_ me!”

Connie turned her head away dramatically. “I offer no _quarter.”_

The two laughed, their cheery voices carrying through the mid-summer air. Lion rolled his eyes, shifting his head so he was facing away from them, but other than that remained in the same place on the sun-warmed ground. He let out a breath, and resumed his nap.

As the two’s laughter resided, Steven started fidgeting again. Connie read the nervous expression on his face, smile fading a bit. “Is there something else on your mind, Steven”

In response, he tapped his finger on his plate a few times. “Yeah, I just… don’t want it to come out the wrong way.”

“Whatever it is, I’ll let you fully explain before I say anything, okay?” Connie reached across the table and took his hand, stopping him from tapping his finger anymore. “As long as whatever you say isn’t going to make me run for the hills, I’m listening.” She gave a small nod of encouragement.

Steven gave a soft chuckle. He knew she wouldn’t run, but anxiety still messed with his head anyways. He closed his eyes, and taking a deep breath, braced himself for whatever reaction she would have. 

“I… wanted to know if you liked it here? Or any of the places I’ve been? I don’t want to pick the spot just for myself…” He trailed off, embarrassed. When Connie didn’t say anything or react too strongly either way, he continued. “I wanted to make sure that you would be happy wherever I want to settle down, too. I know that it’s not time yet, and you’re going to be off in college, but I still wanted to be sure. I don’t wanna move around a whole lot once I’m done. W-we can if we want to,” he backpedalled, “but I don’t want to have to move around every two years or anything crazy.”

Connie’s eyebrows were raised, but that was the most reaction she’d had so far. Now that it seemed like he was done, she relaxed, smiling to herself. _Oh, Steven._ Of course he’d be thinking of her the whole time he was out here. 

“That’s really sweet,” Connie started, choosing her words carefully. “Thanks for thinking of me. I agree about not moving around a whole lot once things are said and done- I did enough of that before we landed in Beach City- but it’s still a long ways out. You don’t have to worry about that for a long time yet, Steven.”

“Well, do you have any preferences? Or anything?”

Connie thought for a moment. “…Not really. As long as it isn’t a big city. Although, maybe not too hot either, but I don’t want to rule out endless summer just yet,” she grinned. “It’s up to you. Really. Where you want to be.” She stood up, walking over by his side and sitting down next to him on his side of the table. She rested her hand on top of his, the other on his shoulder. “I’ll support whatever decision you make, you know. Besides, I’m going to be at Jayhawk for at least two years, maybe more, and that’s still a year out. You can live wherever you want until then. Don’t let me stop you from being focused on _now._ Okay?”

The tension left Steven’s body as he let out a sigh of relief. “Okay. Thanks, Connie.”

“Anytime, Biscuit.”

Lunch went by rather quickly after that. The two finished eating, and after a few more minutes of just aimless chatter and banter, Connie packed up her basket and went on her way. She waved as Lion leapt through another portal, headed back to Beach city. Steven waved after her, genuinely happy and thankful to know her. She had been there for him through thick and thin, and just knowing that she wanted to be with him was an incredible feeling that made his heart swell every time he thought about it. 

After she was gone, Steven hung around the clearing for a few more minutes to just enjoy the air before packing everything back up in the back of the Dondai. Cars continued to yell at each other as they blared their way down the nearby road, but they were far enough away that the roars of their engines were faint, and soon dissolved into background noise. 

It would only take about twenty minutes to reach the town he had been staying in, Ausable Lake, from here, so he decided that, instead of heading back out on the road, he wanted to explore a bit more. The whole forest waited for him nearby, the leaves dancing and flashing and waving at him to join. He sighed contentedly, made sure his keys were in his pocket, and began walking over.

Golden shafts of sunlight cut through the foliage above, the dancing leaves making the forest floor below sparkle. Moss crawled up tree trunks, ferns and bushes completely covering up the dirt patches below. Bugs upon bugs roamed free, confident in their surroundings. Blue jays and robins sang out to each other, while squirrels and chipmunks chattered quietly amongst themselves. A hummingbird approached the teen, hovering in front of him for a moment before rushing off to find the nearest flower. Steven closed his eyes, taking in a breath. This was nice. This was something he could get used to.

He pulled out his phone, tapped the camera icon, and after a few beats of just adjusting the focus, he began taking more pictures. A moss-covered rock with a caterpillar on it, dappled in golden sunshine. The underside of a leaf that was lit up like a lamp as the sun peaked out from behind it. Another small creek nearby, dipping and ducking under ferns that hung over almost protectively. He even took a video, practicing keeping his hand steady as he panned around, taking in each beautiful scene for what it was. Rewatching it, he could hear the birdsong, the cicadas, the rustle of the leaves, and the gurgle of softly running water.

He hummed to himself in thought. Maybe he should try camping out while he was here at some point. Waking up to this scene seemed like one of those things that could never get old.

He hung out in the forest for a little while longer before heading out. The sun had made significant progress across the sky by then, and the lighting was starting to shift. Still about forty-five minutes to an hour before sunset yet, but it was enough. The clouds were starting to warm up in hue, and before long, Steven would have to resist adding more sunset photos to his gallery.

Steven got in his car and drove off, reconvening on the freeway to head back to the little motel he had been staying in for the past few days. He turned up the radio, listening to Sour Cream’s channel, and heartily began singing along as “Can’t Hold Me” began to play. He allowed himself to groove to the music, too, having done so enough times to have the confidence that he wasn’t going to veer off the road as he swayed his body to the rhythm. 

As the car pulled out of the clearing and drove off, a singular eye in the shadows blinked. It had been watching him since just after Connie arrived about three, maybe three and a half hours ago, but its owner hadn’t made a move yet. The time was not right. They had to be smart about this. If they messed up, everything would be in jeopardy.

Just a few more hours, and everything would start to move in their favor again. All they had to do was be patient, not lose track of him, and follow him to whatever place he was currently staying at.

There were no gems around this time. He was right where they wanted him. The owner of that eye chuckled lightly at the thought. They had the upper hand. And he had no idea they were even there…


	2. Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unexpected guest arrives in Steven’s motel room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we begin:  
> \- I will be adding new tags as we go along, so be sure to check those for warnings  
> \- I’m thinking about making an upload schedule, probably 3 times a week? Haven’t decided yet.
> 
> (UPDATE 6/6/2020: This went from being one of the shortest chapters to the longest so far. I completely rewrote EVERYTHING in the first half, then kept everything relatively the same during the second. For new readers: I tried writing this from Steven’s point of view, but because he’s only half-present until the very end of the second half, it was difficult, hard to read, and the chapter suffered because of it. I am MUCH more satisfied with it now. Also it’s midnight and I’m tired.)
> 
> All that out of the way, enjoy!

The road trip back to the motel was uneventful, as was the resulting dinner. Steven elected to eat outside, sitting on top of his car munching on salad as he watched the sun dip down below the trees. The sky went from blue, to yellow, to vibrant red, to finally navy blue, and watching it all play out was relaxing. He didn’t have a large meal, just a small salad, and after that was gone, he jumped down, headed back inside, and turned on the TV for a bit. Of course, the TV was blaring at first (why were TVs _always_ so loud whenever you first turned them on, and why was that only ever the case at motels?), but after quickly turning it down to five, he flipped through the channels. Not much was on, although there were reruns of _Falling Gravity_ on Cartoon DX. He settled on that, having heard good things about the show but never actually taking the time to watch it.

The room itself wasn’t too big, just large enough for a twin-sized bed, which was positioned by the door next to the window. The nightstand was on its other side, a small lamp sitting atop. The TV was on a small table with mini cabinets across the way from the door, the large 80’s-style box illuminating the room with its soft glow as cartoon characters ran this way and that, getting into all kinds of shenanigans together. The walls were a nice tan color, with an oak trim finish. The carpet was a dark grey color, with splashes of the same tans and oak browns intermixed within. Aesthetically, the room was very warm.

Temperature-wise, though, it was cool. Steven didn’t mind, though, as it made the blankets all the warmer. The bed was soft, surprisingly, though still not as much as his old bed had been. That was okay, though, and he found he really didn’t mind. As long as he could sleep comfortably enough. The pillow was extra fluffy, which was a bonus. 

Today had been a good day. He’d snoozed until nine, had cereal for breakfast, and then had spent the day just driving around town. There weren’t a whole lot of people here- though there were more than Beach City- which made it feel familiar, and warm. Folks had been nice enough, and everyone seemed to at least have curtesy if nothing else. Though driving was hard. It seemed like all the slow drivers were here, and always up front leading a pack of five other cars. That was okay, though; it meant Steven could enjoy the scenery more.

Then the picnic with Connie happened, and the hours spent in the woods, and then the drive back here. Good, fun, relaxing times. 

It was polar opposite to the cities, where nothing ever slept. He sometimes didn’t, either, making sure to keep really busy during the day so he could be tired enough to ignore the endless honking of car horns outside his window. Plus everything was always so much more expensive. Cities were fun, but not someplace he’d want to stay for more than a few weeks at a time, that much he was sure about.

As time went by, his eyes started to close. It had been a relaxing, good day, one of many in a row- six day streak!- and so he wasn’t overly tired, but just ready to settle down for the night. He got up, grabbing his yellow pajama shirt and blue-striped pants out of a suitcase, and headed into the bathroom to change. His toothbrush was already out, so after he was done in the bathroom, it was quick to give his smile a quick scrub before heading back to bed.

He got lucky with this motel; not only was it cheaper than other places he’d bunked out in, but it also had one of the better mattresses he’d slept on. It was soft, and warm, and although kind of stiff, still squishy enough to be comfortable, which was better than most motels he stayed at. Maybe that had something to do with why he was suddenly so tired. 

He woke himself up just enough to remember to plug in his phone, then tucked himself back in under the covers. He laid on his side, absently watching the TV as his eyelids became heavier and heavier. One of the two main characters- Maple, he thought- had just said something in a high, sing-song voice, to which a laugh track played. An older man- Ley, maybe- squinted at her, then looked into the camera, unamused.

It wasn’t long before the little cartoon girl’s jokes landed on deaf ears as the sweet serene of sleep washed over the teen and darkness overtook his vision.

* * *

When he wasn’t super tired, Steven was a light sleeper. The same was true for tonight. It was peaceful, the room was just the right temperature, the TV had turned to white static a while back ago, and the noise continued to lull him to sleep. 

It was a full moon tonight, if Steven had been awake to see it. Its brilliant light made everything in the nighttime world brighter, and tinted just the lightest shade of silvery blue. The same was true for the figure that soared up out of the trees, confident now that every human in the area was sound asleep. Their figure rose up, becoming a dark blot on the moon, before gently lowering back down to the ground, right in front of Steven’s motel room window.

The cold, menacing, singular eye watched him from behind. They had their hands on the top lip of the window, and a grin spread across their face. They gripped the strap of their nap sack tightly, holding back from just bursting into the room and just taking it. But, an awake Steven was a thousand times more dangerous than a sleeping Steven, so they refrained. For now. 

Quietly as they could, the small figure moved to climb in, only to brush their fingers across some kind of… metal shield? It was very flimsy, and made up of tiny strings of metal woven together. What on earth was it? Why was it here?

The figure stared at the near-invisible iron blockade for a second more before reaching up to where their other eye should have been. Two gems began to glow, one with a round shape, cut like a square in the center, and the other nice and round, resembling a teardrop. From the light of the square one, the handle of a weapon appeared. The gem grasped it, and slowly brought the rest of the light weapon out, revealing a cutlass. She smiled, feeling its weight in her hands.

She knew she had to be quiet- humans could apparently wake up to “loud noises”- but because she wasn’t sure what noises were loud enough to qualify, she decided to make as little noise as possible. Gently, she pushed the tip of the sword into the barrier, and the satisfying rip of metal greeted her, as well as the soft thud of the blade hitting the glass. Swiping down a little too fast, she cut a hole in the shape of a slash mark into the shield, then again the other direction, making an X formation. 

Now for the easier part. The cutlass dissolved from the figure’s hand, retreating back into her gems. Once it was gone, she reached down, gripping the bottom part of the window frame, and pulled up. It slid, wood rubbing against wood in a soft dragging sound.

Steven groaned from the noise and tensed up. The figure did the same, not moving an inch. Steven sighed, then relaxed, now grabbing at his blanket a bit tighter. The figure heaved a _(quiet)_ sigh of relief, and slowly clambered through. Moving four legs, the rest of her, and her magnificent wings into the small space without making too much noise was exceedingly hard, but she managed.

As soon as her whole self was in the room, she lifted into the air. Softly, she fluttered down next to Steven’s bed. Now looking him in the face, the fusion could feel her hatred for him growing. He looked so peaceful, as if he didn’t completely ruin their lives in more ways than one. It was almost sad, if it hadn’t been so funny. Ironic, really, that the gems he hurt would come back to hurt him, too. Justice, really. The gem bit back the urge to chuckle at the thought, having to remind herself that noises wake humans. And an awake Steven was a thousand times more threatening than a sleeping Steven.

They had to be quick, and precise. The whole galaxy’s fate rested on this moment. Or, maybe, the whole _universe’s_ fate rested on this moment? The fusion bit back another laugh. Jokes could be saved for later, when they didn’t have important work to do.

Gently as she could, the gem grasped the edge of his blanket and lifted it up. She then used her other hand to reach forward towards Steven’s midsection, feeling the familiar hardness of a gem under his shirt. She grinned. She had found her prize. She moved her hand down, about to grab the hem of his shirt, when the annoying human groaned and rolled over. The figure quickly dropped the blanket as Steven shifted, now laying face-down (and, by extension, belly-down) on the bed.

She huffed. This is why she hated him, reason 396.

Well, she couldn’t just move Steven back over, that would awaken him for sure. She hummed in thought. If she could only get him to roll back over…

Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long as Steven shifted again. Pushing up with his arms, he flopped back over onto his side, facing the window now.

Great. Just great.

The figure groaned. He was annoying even without trying to be!

The fusion thought back to that day, about a year ago, when she had come to Steven’s house and pretended to be his friend. He had been hesitant, but the others welcomed her with open arms. It still shocked her that they all knew her identity and were nice to her anyway. _Fools._ She was grateful, however, for their company, as staying with them for only a few measly hours had taught her so much about Steven’s life, and humans in general. His precious My Dad had been particularly helpful in this sense, teaching her about sleep and things humans ate, along with a few other fun facts.

Fun facts like the nervous system, and the activity of “tickling.”

Nervously, the fusion moved to touch his neck. When he didn’t really react one way of the other, she tried to mimic what My Dad had told her- quick and soft movements. It worked like a charm, but instead of laughing like My Dad said humans did, he just rolled back over, doing a 180 this time. Now, his back was pressed against the wall, and he was facing her again.

The fusion grinned. She lifted off the ground and set down next to him again, once again moving to lift up the blanket.

It was easier now, as the weight had shifted from just dangling off the bed to being on top of it, and to free her hand, she set it back down on top of him. Both hands free, she used her right to grasp the hem of his shirt and lift while the left reached for the gem. It was a brilliant pink color, glistening coldly to the light coming from the window. If you looked closely, you could tell that the gem wasn’t completely opaque, and the light bounced around inside the piece of glorified jewelry, illuminating it ever so slightly.

Once she touched it, a pink bubble formed around it. The gem let out an “eep!” and let go, dropping the shirt and moving backwards on instinct. The bubble vanished. The figure blinked, then mentally slapped herself (twice) for reacting the way she did. Of COURSE the gem part of him would still be awake. It’s a gem! It doesn’t need sleep! 

New plan. 

Reaching into the nap sack she had with her, the gem pulled out what best described to be an advanced marshmallow stick. It forked about midway up the handle, curving up into two prongs. Upon turning the weapon on, a yellow ball of electricity formed between the tips, creating a soft buzzing sound. But in the confines of this small room, it sounded like a horde of angry hornets. _Loud_ hornets.

It was no surprise that Steven Universe’s eyes cracked open at the noise. His eyes were glossed over, not really registering anything. That meant his brain hadn’t woken up yet. She was running out of time!

Without a second left to lose, the gem shoved the weapon forward. The two prongs made contact with the skin of Steven’s belly, both tips equidistant from the gem at his navel, and the energy shot forward into him. His eyes shot open, pupils dilating to small pinpricks in shock and pain. His entire body stiffened, and little veins of yellow began to spread outward from the weapon’s touch.

And he _screamed._ The fusion almost felt sorry for him, for how painful that sounded, but their hatred overruled any sympathy she could have had. He _deserved_ this. For ruining their lives, and for discarding everything they were programmed to believe. He wasn’t a Diamond at all, now was he? Look at him! After he completely shattered the Empire, he just ran away on some lousy trip! He couldn’t even stay committed! The absolute disrespect of that alone was enough to make the gem smile maliciously at his cries. Finally, sweet, _sweet_ justice.

She couldn’t enjoy it for long, though. After giving it a few seconds to be sure that his Diamond would be out of it, Bluebird Azurite then threw the weapon to the floor. It clanked loudly, electric shocks still encircling the prongs with pure energy.

This time, when Bluebird grabbed at his gem, it didn’t react. She grinned. Wrapping both hands around it, she began to _pull._

Steven’s hyperventilating filled her mind, the rapid rise and fall of his chest making this harder than it needed to be. Bluebird growled. “Stop breathing! You’re making this ‘arder than it needs to be,” she spat.

At once, Steven’s eyes widened even more with recognition. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. Instead, he started squirming around, trying to free his hands, not aware that he accidentally wrapped himself up in a cocoon in his sleep. He realized the blanket was exposed in front, and shifted accordingly, allowing his right arm to free itself and shove Bluebird away.

The gem caught herself in mid-air, flapping her wings angrily. 

A door slammed open from somewhere, and the parking lot outside was suddenly lit up from the lights of some of the other rooms in the motel. _Curses!_ Of _course_ Steven’s scream would wake everyone! _Loud noises wake up humans!_ Footsteps began running closer. She really was running out of time!

Steven quickly rolled out of bed, coming to stand up in a battle-ready stance. He held up an arm out in front of him, and his shield materialized. It was shaped like a circle, with a hexagonal pattern in the center of it, along with Diamond imagery- his own unique shield. Bluebird only got to see it for a second, though, before it started glitching. It fazed in and out of existence, before finally popping like a bubble.

Steven’s form stiffened. “What?” he breathed, clearly shocked. He tried again, with the shield appearing, glitching, and disappearing again.

Bluebird grinned. The destabilized had worked. “Awww, whasamatta, Steven Universe,” Bluebird cooed, her Cockney accent as heavy as ever. “Is your little shield not behaving right?”

Steven’s gaze travelled to her, first scared, then angry. “What did you do?” he growled.

The fusion giggled. “Oh, nothing you ‘aven’t experienced before, love! You got over it.”

She reached up towards her glowing gems and once again brought her arm down, holding the handle of a cutlass. “DIE!”

Steven had to duck down as Bluebird made to slice him in half. She rushed forward, sword cutting into the mattress instead. Diving onto the floor, Steven made a reach for the destabilizer, but only succeeded in shoving further away from him as his fingers knocked against the tip of the handle, sending it spinning. Bluebird came down hard on his arm, pushing down on it with two out of four of her legs. She grinned from ear to ear, raising her cutlass above her head.

Steven pulled his arm back, unbalancing the roach as he stumbled backward and back onto his feet. He used the nightstand to push himself back up, but thudded too hard against it, sending the lamp on top crashing to the floor. Broken glass littered the area now, reflecting the moonlight. Barefoot, Steven made a note not to step on any of it. 

Bluebird quickly caught herself, and lifted up into the air. She glared at the boy. Even without weapons, he was still beating her! How? It wasn’t fair!

Steven’s whole body flashed pink. He squeezed his eyes shut, concentrating, but instead of settling down one way or the other, he continued to flicker like a light bulb. Seems his gem was still out of it. He huffed, staring Bluebird down.

She grinned. “Nowhere left to go, Steven!” She shot forward, blade held over her opposite shoulder as she prepared to slice through him. 

Steven saw this coming. He quickly reached over, grasped the table with one hand, and brought it up in front of him. Bluebird’s sword hit the side, lodging itself into the wood. The rest of her slammed into the material, shoving Steven against the wall. He hit his head, but stayed upright.

Bluebird couldn’t hide the excited glint in her eye. “Wouldja look at that! The great Steven Universe is completely _defenseless_ without his precious gem protecting him! What a shame.”

“Hey! What’s going on in there!” Someone rapped on his door, pounding on it sure and strong. The man’s voice was deeper, and strong, despite having that twinge of sleepiness still hanging on.

Steven’s eyes widened. He turned to the door, trying to decide what to tell this gentleman.

Bluebird saw her opening. She dislodged her blade from the table and thwacked it across Steven’s head with the flat side with a satisfying DONG! sound, knocking him to the floor. She had managed to cut his ear a bit, too, though nothing too extreme. 

“AHCH! Oww,” he breathed, reaching a hand up to the injury.

He didn’t have time for any further reaction as Bluebird threw herself down, tossing the table away like it was nothing, and reached for his gem once again. The bubble appeared, but glitched away, giving her free access. She expected Steven to try and shove her off, but glancing at him, it appeared as though he were looking at something else just past her. His eyes were glossed over in fear, and the pink glow began to return, though still flickering like a light with the switch flipped halfway between on and off.

“Mr. Universe! I’m coming in!” The voice announced from outside. There was the sure jangling of keys as he fumbled to get the right one.

Bluebird frowned in determination. Giving one last, sure pull, the resistance of his gem fell. It broke away, leaving Steven’s torso and now rested in Bluebird’s hand. She grinned maniacally.

All light in Steven’s eyes died. His breathing hitched, then he went limp, eyes half-lidded. Surprisingly, there was no blood, other than the stream from his ear, to which Bluebird was… grateful? Disappointed? Even she wasn’t sure. Either way, she turned away from him and held up his translucent gem to the light of the moon, watching as the light filtered through it. She turned it, watching it glisten.

Suddenly, the door burst open. A dark-skinned human stomped in, a primitive human weapon in his hand. “What’s happ-“ the sentence caught in his throat as he saw the scene. The mattress had a huge slash down the side of it, the lamp lay in shards, the table was on the other side of the room, upside-down with a broken leg, and the kid was lying on the ground, unmoving. A weird, blue creature with wings stood over him, holding up an impressive-looking diamond to the moonlight filtering through his open window (with the screen cut through). He nearly dropped his gun in shock. “STEVEN?!”

“Ah, ‘ello there! Nice night tonight!” The pixie-like creature with one eye dressed in a business suit declared cheerily. She brought her prize down, and suddenly, what the man could only describe as a spontaneous blue bubble appeared around it. She grinned a megawatt grin at him, clearly proud of herself. “T’day just keeps on giving, eh!”

“YOU! Who are you! What have you done?!” The man widened his stance, pointing the weapon at the… whatever it was he was looking at. One of those “gem” things he’d head about on the news? Maybe that was it- she looked like she had one on her eye. And what he’d thought was a tear now looked more like rock the more he thought about it.

The “gem” giggled, her Cockney accent riddled with a false innocence. “Oh, nothin’ too much! I jus’ saved the galaxy- the _u_ _niverse,_ I guess you could say- from itself! Isn’t it great!”

The man lowered his gun ever-so-slightly in confusion. “But you- you hurt him!” His arms tensed again, once more bringing up the weapon. “What did you do?!”

Bluebird giggled again. “Humans. So annoying.”

And with that, she lifted up into the air and ducked out the window with her prize, her laughter echoing across the parking lot and bouncing through the nearby tree line.

The man spun around, watching her go, debating wether or not to pull the trigger. He was almost about to when he heard the sure sound of a pained groan behind him. Turning again, he saw Steven shifting weakly, an arm trying to lift off the ground.

Dropping the weapon, he raced over to the kid’s side. Oh, God, what did that “gem” do to him? “Steven? STEVEN? A-are you okay?”

He barely got any kind of response. The kid was out like a dying flame on its last embers. His eyes cracked open, mouth opening and closing softly as he tried to say something. The man realized that he was repeating himself, and leaned in closer to hear.

_“Connie,”_ he murmured. _“Connie…”_

He followed the kid’s gaze, turning around to see his phone dangling from a power outlet. He wanted to call someone.

Quickly, he made a dash for it, yanking the devise from the charger and returning it to the boy. “Okay, I have your phone. Who do you want me to call, ‘Connie’?”

Again, the teen barely realized what he’d said. He lifted an arm up weakly, trying to reach the phone. He placed a thumb on the home button, pressing once to turn it on, then holding it there as it scanned his fingerprint. The screen shifted from the standard nature background of the lock screen to a home page filled with games, note-taking apps, and various other pre-installed applications.

The man quickly brought the phone closer to his own face, wincing at the brightness, and began looking for the contacts. Once found, he quickly scrolled through, looking for “Connie.” He saw her name, tapped the call icon, and brought it to his ear.

It continued to ring. Both men sat there, anxiously waiting for someone to pick up. 

In the meanwhile, the older of the two reached down and felt the younger’s forehead. Oh, god, he felt hot. Like, _take-me-to-the-hospital_ levels of hot. There were bags under his eyes, and a dullness to his eyes that had been so _bright_ two days ago when he’d first come and rented a room at the motel. The manager was honestly shell shocked to witness such a drastic change in such a short amount of time. Steven was growing pale, which implied he was cold, but no, he was burning, _sickeningly_ hot!

“‘Ello? Steven? It’s three in the morning…” Connie’s voice slurred through the speaker, tired. “‘Re you okay?” She yawned.

Both of them startled at the sound of her voice, the man then sighing with relief. “Hello, ‘Connie,’ was it? My name is Bradly, I run the motel your friend is staying at. He…” He took a deep breath. “Your friend here is in trouble. He’s hurt real bad.” He glanced over at Steven, watching the rise and fall of his chest. It was so slow, so weak…

“What?” Instantly, the girl on the other end was more awake. “What happened?”

“I-I don’t know. I heard a scream coming from his room, and when I got here, he… I’m not sure. He was attacked by someone, and then she flew out the window all smiles and giggles and-“ he cut himself off, taking a second to breathe. “He looks weak and pale, but there’s no blood or anything. Err, no,” he cringed, “there’s a cut on his ear.”

“Hang on, I’ll be right there.”

The line went silent as Connie hung up on her end. Bradly turned back to Steven, eyebrows creased with worry. “Hold on there, kid, your friend’s coming soon,” he murmured softly. “I don’t know what’s going on, but it sounds like she does.”

Bradly couldn’t wrap his brain around what he’d seen. Was that a “gem?” He’d thought they were a myth. What was a gem doing all the way out here? Why go after Steven? What was that diamond she was holding? What did she do to this poor kid to make him so… well, like _this?_

Steven managed a soft smile, thankful, but not much else. His stomach _hurt._ Oh, stars, it hurt. It was gone. He was gone. His gem was gone. He _needed_ that. He _needed_ that to _live._ And it was _gone._ Bluebird took it, _pulled it out._ She _flew up into the sky with it. With him. A piece of him._ Who _knows_ what she was planning to do with it. Shatter him? Keep him as a trophy? _Sell him on a gem black market??_

Something roared, and a pink-white portal appeared in the room. Lion leaped into the space, skidding to a stop as Connie quickly leaped off his back. She was still in her pajamas, which were a nice navy blue color. Brad jumped, letting out a yelp of surprise, but moved out of the way as the determined girl ran over to Steven’s side. Immediately, she went for his gem, feeling for it, and quickly realized that it was gone. Her eyes traveled to the open window, out the night sky, and she pieced together what must have happened.

“Steven, your gem…!” She blinked rapidly, searching his face for anything. Any sign that he was okay, that this was a dream, that he had managed to unfuse on his own and was pulling a prank on her right now, but no. All she found was fear, and a numbness. Connie placed her hand on his cheek. “Who did this to you?”

_“Bl… Bluebird…”_ he managed to say between gasps for air. His voice was tiny, almost impossible to hear. He turned his head slightly, looking out the window in the direction she fled to. _“She… bubbled… window… I…”_

“Shhhh,” Connie turned his head back towards her, her eyes starting to brim with tears. “It’s okay. We’re going to find her, and your gem, okay? She can’t do much with it, anyways, and she’s not going to make it very far with those little wings of hers.” She wiped a tear off Steven’s cheek and pulled him into a soft hug. “We’re going to fix this.”

_“O… Okay…”_ Steven’s limbs felt like cinder blocks, but he managed to move an arm up to return the hug. He felt safe in her grasp, but his mind flashed back to White’s head for the second time that night. She had held him just like this the last time, when everything hurt and he wasn’t sure he would live, watching as his gem half blew apart the ship with a single scream-

“I’m sorry, Connie, but can you please tell me what’s going on here? Was that a gem?” Bradly placed a hand gently on her shoulder, meeting her eyes with worry. His entire body was ridged, tensed as he wanted to help but wasn’t sure how.

Connie broke away from Steven, turning to the man sitting next to her. “Yeah. I don’t know how much you know about gems, but she’s a bit crazy, _to put it lightly.”_ She growled the last part, hands clenching into fists. Brad couldn’t help but gulp in fear. Whoever this woman was, she seemed like the kind of person to avoid getting on her bad side at all costs. And this “Bluebird” person just did. He almost felt sorry for her, if she hadn’t just severely hurt one of the nicest people Brad knew.

He blinked. “Wh-what’s going to happen to him? Will he be okay?”

Connie stiffened. She looked back at Steven, another tear falling from his eye. The lost look in his eyes made her heart break in half. She wiped away her own tears, pulling him into one more quick hug before standing. “He won’t be if we stand here and do nothing,” she announced. “We need more help.”

“I-I’ll call the hospital,” Brad suggested. “We can-“

“No. Too slow. They won’t be able to help him anyways.” Connie strode quickly back over to Lion, hopping aboard and grabbing his mane like the reigns of a horse. “I’m getting more help. Stay here and keep an eye on him.”

Without another word, the _pink lion_ let out a roar and disappeared through a _magic_ _pinkish-white portal,_ taking Connie with him. Brad blinked, unsure of what exactly was happening, but a groan from the injured teen brought him back to reality. He could worry about witchcraft later; right now, it looked like this boy was dying.

* * *

Garnet was sitting in the living room, looking outside at the stars. She always had liked how calm they looked from such a distance away, creating patterns without even knowing it and dancing about like they owned the sky. In a sense, they did. Their twinkling light was what made stargazing worth it at all. She breathed in a sigh of contentment, happy that things had worked out the way they had.

Amethyst and Pearl were inside the Temple, each off doing their own things. Amethyst was probably playing video games, and maybe that’s what Pearl was doing, too? It was either that, or she was in her room, doing any number of things, like playing piano, organizing her weapons for the fiftieth time this year, strumming Steven’s ukulele, maybe texting one of her humans friends, calling Bismuth…

Garnet smiled at that thought. She had known that Pearl and Bismuth were close, but when the two had told her that they were together now, she couldn’t contain her excitement. Looking back, Garnet had realized that the signs were there, all pointing to both of them at least somewhat crushing on each other. The fusion smiled to herself, settling on the possibility they were chatting together tonight. It was the cutest possible reality at this late hour.

The silence was cut short when a portal opened up. Lion sprung into the room, a fresh-out-of-bed Connie riding on his back. She was off him in a flash and running up to Garnet, eyes wide in panic.

Garnet stood. “Connie, it’s late. What’s the problem?”

“It’s Steven!” She ran up to the larger being, grasping one of her hands in worry. “Bluebird pulled out his gem and flew off with it!”

Garnet’s three eyes widened, though hidden behind her visor. “But… that’s not possible,” she murmured half to herself. “Steven was trying to get away from gem activity. How did she find him?”

Connie shook her head. “I don’t know, but he’s dying. We need all hands on deck, fast!”

“Right.” Garnet started running for the Temple, head turned to face Connie as she went. “Stay here. I’ll get Pearl and Amethyst.”

“What about Greg?” Connie reached for her phone, hoping to call him. “He needs to know, too.”

Garnet’s future vision swam. Greg might not be awake to take a phone call right now, and even if he did manage to answer, there wasn’t anything he could do right now. So she shook her head. “We can call him after we get this sorted out.” She thought for a second. “Call Peridot. We may need her help.”

Connie blinked, taking in this information. She knew it was wrong to leave Greg in the dark, but there must have been a reason Garnet didn’t want her calling him. Stress, maybe? She’d call him later. Instead, Connie scrolled through her contacts, past “G,” and landed in the “P”s. Patricia, Pearl, Peridot! She hit call, and quickly pulled the devise up to her ear.

Garnet, meanwhile, ran into the Temple. She went through her door, landing in the Burning Room, and jumped up through the top to the Crystal Heart. There were three doors here, and she chose the left, bolting for Amethyst’s room.

She burst through from a puddle, looking around. Sure enough, the purple quartz was playing video games, and fortunately for Garnet, Pearl was sitting next to her, trying to get a handle on the controls.

“So, you just gotta click R2 twice, then X, then C three times really fast. It’s easy.”

Pearl just looked confused, still trying to remember which buttons were which. She turned the controller over on her hand, looking down on the top, trying to remember which R was 2.

Both gems looked up as they saw Garnet running towards them. The mood shifted as they realized something was wrong. Pearl stood, then reached a hand down to help Amethyst up as well, who took it half-heartedly.

“Garnet? What’s-“

“Steven’s in trouble,” she explained in a rush. “We have to go. **Now.”**

* * *

_“WHAT???”_ Peridot’s shrill voice cut through the speaker of Connie’s phone, making her hold the phone out a ways so as not to blow out her eardrums. “WHAT HAPPENED? I-IS HE OKAY??”

“We don’t know,” Connie answered back. “Just please come over here. We’re going out on Lion to the motel, but I think we’re going to bring him back to the beach house after we get him.”

“I’ll bring some equipment,” Peridot announced. “If I could just find some 9GXQ batteries and a few light stabilizers, I think I could make something to make up for his gem’s… absence.”

Connie nodded. “Sounds good. See you soon.”

“Take care of him, please. I’ll be there shortly.”

Connie hung up, sighing. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Steven had gone out there to get away from Gem stuff, and now two of his greatest enemies rolled into one had found him again. What did she want that was so important? Why couldn’t he just be _happy?_

She thought back to White’s head, that day about three years ago, and how the matriarch had also ripped out his gem. At this point, it was common knowledge that the event had transpired, as Steven had opened up to them about it a few months ago, but to see it happen again, and for everyone to be involved this time… Connie shook her head, trying to banish the memory. But it wouldn’t go away. His human half, dying on the ground, as his gem half had screamed at White with a force no one had seen from the small child before. The crater in the ground. After that, Steven’s weight as she struggled to pick him up and carry him to his other half, to fix him. His gem must have known what to do. The two halves walking towards each other, only for the gem to constantly be attacked from all sides, White trying to control him, too, _the force of the knockback as he pushed them away with his shields, the-_

“Connie! We’re here!” 

The girl was yanked back to reality as Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl raced out of the Temple in a frenzy. Pearl had her phone out and was texting someone, while Amethyst made a beeline for Lion.“There!” Pearl announced, putting the phone back in her gem. “I’ve finished informing Bismuth of what’s going on. She, Lapis, and Peridot should be available to help once we’ve figured out what’s going on.”

“That’s great, P. Now GET OVER HERE SO WE CAN LEAVE!” Amethyst shouted at her, anxiety making the gem much angrier. The purple quartz leaped onto Lion’s back, followed quickly by Connie. Garnet and Pearl also climbed aboard, Lion letting out a low growl from the weight on his back, but allowed everyone to stay on.

“Take us to Steven!” Connie commanded, placing her hands in his mane. She felt Amethyst’s hands wrap around her, too, and the other gems did the same.

Lion roared, and a portal opened up before him. The feline bounded through, and at once, all four of them had arrived in the motel room again. 

Connie instantly leapt off his back and dashed over to Steven. Brad had placed and ice pack on the teen’s forehead, and had put him back on the ripped bed, but other than that, the situation was just how she had left it. She sprinted to his side, placing the back of her hand against his cheeks. He did feel hot, an unnatural level that, alone, would be enough cause for worry.

“Steven? We’re back.” Connie felt her eyes tearing up again.

_“Connie?”_ Steven’s voice wavered, scared and in pain.

It hurt her to see him like this, again. His skin got paler, eyes not focusing on anything specific, and when they did, it was a clear struggle. His pupils dilated a few times, trying to adjust to Connie right in front of him. His whole body had gone slack, shaking. He’d been crying some more, tear tracks tracing back into his sideburns from having been lying down.

Pearl rushed next to Connie, almost pushing her out of the way. “STEVEN! Are you okay? Is your heart still beating? Can you see?”

“Pearl, calm down! You’re gonna freak him out!” Amethyst shoved her way between the two, pushing the lanky gem back a bit. The quartz’s hard gaze softened as she saw the pure panic on Pearl’s face, however, and she sighed. “We’re all worried, but screaming at him isn’t helping.

Pearl looked down and nodded. She approached again, slower this time, and moved the ice pack so she could feel his forehead herself.

Connie backed away, coming to stand next to Garnet. The girl looked up at her, searching for any confidence or sign that she knew what was going to happen to him. She found only a rigidness she’d never seen from the gem before.

“Garnet? Do you see any possible ways to help him?” The question was hard to get out, spoken softly.

The gem put a hand on her visor, checking alternate futures. “…Yes, but it isn’t going to be easy. There are so many unknown variables, I-I can’t tell. But I do know that the batteries Peridot needs are sitting in plain sight, and she’ll see them eventually. Once she does, Steven should be okay. For now.” 

Her voice shook. She had no clue that anyone even could _find_ Steven, let alone that anyone would try something like this. There was no way Bluebird had just _suddenly_ got smart enough to know that Steven was most vulnerable while asleep, nor that she had the resources to track him down. And how had she actually managed to pull the gem out? Steven would have defended himself, and the cockroach was no match for him. Had Steven been asleep the whole time? No, that wasn’t possible; the room was in shambles, indicating a fight. One that Steven had lost. Bluebird must have had help. But who, and why? 

Connie could see the tension on Garnet’s face from a mile away. She looked away, eyebrows creased with worry, and saw the man from earlier. He had backed away and was standing near the TV, which was still on for some reason. Brad was watching the scene play out before him, confused, horrified, and scared.

Connie took a deep breath, and walked over to him. “Hey.”

Bradly’s dark gaze shifted to hers, softening just a little. 

Connie managed a small smile. “Thanks for helping him. This must all be… pretty weird for you.”

The man blinked. “Uhh, no problem. I guess it is, but… I couldn’t just leave him like that, not when I knew I could try to help, y’know?”

“I know the feeling,” Connie murmured. 

She turned back to the gems, who were now trying to pick Steven up. Pearl had tried first, but she couldn’t get a good hold on him, so Garnet had to step forward. She carried Steven bridal style, saying something to him in a hushed tone. Steven stared off at something only he could see, and after a moment, Garnet sighed, clutching him tighter. His pajamas wrinkled under her touch, to which the teen’s eyes widened. Garnet loosened her grip, then moved back to Lion, who had kept his distance by the door this whole time, and mounted his back. Amethyst was quick to follow, Pearl right behind her once she had gotten some more clothes from Steven’s suitcase. 

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Connie turned back to Brad, shocked that he’d even think about asking that. “I mean, shouldn’t we call the hospital? If he’s dying, we should-“

“No.” Connie moved toward Lion again, coming to a stop next to the large, pink feline. “This is gem stuff. He needs his gem. Without it, there’s nothing we can do.”

“Well, c-can I at least-“

“You can help by staying out of it,” Connie shot back sternly. “We can take care of him, and we will. This has happened before. We fixed it before.”

Brad looked sheepishly to the ground, still unnerved that a girl as young as Connie could be so intimidating. “Good luck,” he stuttered.

Connie gave a quick, thankful nod before she mounted Lion’s back, sitting behind Pearl, and wrapped her arms around her. Pearl put a hand on hers reassuringly. She buried her face in Pearl’s jacket.

Lion roared, and leapt through the portal, back home in Steven’s living room.


	3. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gems try to figure out what happens next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we jump in:  
> \- I did want to talk about how Garnet’s future vision works in this fic. She does not know everything; she can only see possible paths. She takes variables she knows about, and then after that, her guess is only a bit better than the next person’s. Not saying her future vision is useless or anything, just that she doesn’t know everything.
> 
> (UPDATE 6/6/2020: I mostly kept things the same. Added a bit at the end, flushed out the second scene a bit more, and just added onto the character’s actions a bit. Nothing too drastic changed.)
> 
> That out of the way, enjoy!

The portal opened up in the living room, facing the kitchen. Lion leapt through, landing roughly from the excess weight on his back, and immediately flopped down. He huffed a sigh, exhausted.

Pearl jumped off Lion’s back first, racing for the stairway. Garnet was quick to follow suit, heading instead towards the couch, clutching her prize ever-so-carefully in her arms, followed by Amethyst. The quartz had never seen Steven like this before; unresponsive as he was, limp as a noodle, not even blinking. She knew that his gem was a huge part of who he was, even before he had explained what White Diamond did to him, and that removing it could potentially kill him, but to actually _see_ it was something else entirely.

It was honestly terrifying. The usually energetic teen was always alive, even while he slept. Pearl had described it best while she used to watch him sleep; it was fascinating how humans always managed to live, even when they were lying perfectly still. From the rise and fall of their chests, to the little twitches their fingers did while dreaming, just down to the warmth of their skin. They were always _alive._

But Steven, by that definition, was not alive right now. His chest barely rose at all with his breathing, he was pale, the bags under his eyes cut deep, and he was too hot. It was odd, though; typically, when humans looked like this, they became cold. Amethyst supposed Steven was just an oddity, always and forever, even when knocking on death’s door.

Garnet set him down on the couch as carefully as she could manage, kneeling down next to him. Amethyst walked around, coming to stand in front of him. She put a hand on his shoulder, gave a light squeeze, hoping that would do something. To no one’s surprise, Steven didn’t respond in the slightest.

Pearl rushed back down, splaying the three blankets she salvaged from Greg’s room on her boy as fast as she could. She and Garnet worked together to try and smooth them out, and as soon as the task was done, Pearl was off to grab ice while Garnet felt for a pulse.

Steven had since shut his eyes. Or maybe Garnet had shut them on the way in. It was almost cruel, how peaceful he looked. Garnet placed the back of her hand on Steven’s forehead, and Amethyst winced as the fusion pulled her hand away faster than she placed it down, like a human touching hot metal. But that was okay, right? This has happened before, and Steven was okay. This was going to be okay. They’d find Bluebird and make her _pay. DEARLY._ NO ONE hurts Steven like this and gets away with it. The quartz suddenly felt a rage at White Diamond that hadn’t been there before. Steven had been like this once before. _And it was White Diamond’s fault._

She shook her head. No, no one was laying blame anywhere. Connie’s words from the beach almost a year ago cut into her mind. _This isn’t the time to make this all about YOU! That is NOT HELPING!_ Besides, it was Bluebird anyways. White had absolutely nothing to do with this. Right…? Right. She adored the kid, even if she didn’t know how to show him without smothering him.

Amethyst turned away, leaving room for Pearl to come racing over, a small bag of ice in hand. The gem walked over to Connie, who was still sitting on Lion, watching the events unfold before her. She had a numbness in her eyes, having seen all of this before.

“Hey, Connie,” Amethyst spoke softly. 

The girl’s gaze shifted to her, suddenly much more attentive than she had been a second ago. The numb look faded.

Amethyst gave her a small smile, inwardly sighing in relief. “You… doing okay?”

Connie nodded unconvincingly. “I guess so. Why?”

“I wanted to ask you something.” Amethyst sat down on the floor, not wanting to put more weight on the exhausted lion. Connie seemed to understand, and slid down to sit next to her. Amethyst took in a breath. “It’s about White’s head.”

Connie’s eyebrows raised.

“I was just thinking… Steven told us about what happened, a few months ago by now, but it always seemed like an event that… didn’t happen? I’m not good at explaining this stuff, because it did happen and I know it did, I’m not saying it didn’t. But you were there, and we weren’t. I never- _we_ never got your side of the story.” Amethyst pulled her knees up to her chest nervously. “How do you remember this going down last time?”

Connie looked away, back towards Steven. Amethyst followed her gaze. The kid was pale, but sweating, showing that he was still alive. His breathing was ragged and shallow, but other than that, he was peaceful. Amethyst frowned. He was in so much pain; how could he look at peace at a time like this?

“Steven’s story is probably going to be the same as mine from him waking up and on,” Connie started, “so I won’t start there.“ She took a deep breath. “It was scary, seeing him like that. After White picked him up and pulled out his gem, she dropped him. He landed on the ground a ways off, and didn’t move. I was so sure he was dead, I just-“ She paused, taking a moment to relax a bit. “Pearl was holding me, and I struggled out of her grasp. When I got there, he was acting a lot like he is now- barely conscious, hot, sick…”

Amethyst frowned. “That’s not what Steven told us…”

“I doubt he remembers.” Connie crossed her arms, brows furrowing as she thought about something. “He stayed like that until just before his gem reformed. Once it did, he was more aware of what was going on. He probably told you everything from there.”

Amethyst looked away, taking in that information. “That’s good then, right?” She turned back to Connie. “That means he won’t be like this for much longer.”

Connie shook her head. “Steven managed to tell me something about bubbles before he fell back into this state.”

“You think Bluebird bubbled his gem?”

“Could be. Only time will tell.”

“But, wait, does that mean Steven could be like this _forever?”_ Amethyst moved back as if she had been burnt this time. “But, he just… he was-“

“I don’t know.” Connie leaned back, frowning. “But he’s strong. He’ll pull through. He did last time, and he will this time. He- I believe in him. He’s got this.”

Amethyst forced a grin. “Of COURSE he will! This is _Steven_ we’re talking about! _Nothing_ can take him out, not even giant dictators from outer space! If he could face them down and be okay, then I’m sure he could take on _Bluebird._ This is _Bluebird!_ What harm can she really do? She’s more of a joke than anything!”

Connie chuckled lightly. “Yeah, I guess so.” Her eyes darkened. “I guess we’ll see what happens.”

Amethyst nodded in agreement. 

Connie reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her contacts, pressed one, and stood up. She walked outside, and after a moment, sighed in relief. “Hey, Mr. Universe. Yeah, I’m fine. This is about Steven.”

Amethyst tuned her out, not wanting to hear the rest of that talk, and headed back over to Steven. He needed her right now.

* * *

The atmosphere was always rough to fly through. First it was cold, then freezing, then hot, hot, hotter, burning, my wings are evaporating can we even make it THE COLD OUTER REACHES OF SPACE ARE JUST PAST THIS _WE CAN MAKE IT OWOWOWOWOWOW-_

And then space was cold. 

Bluebird Azurite sighed in relief. Being part Ruby, she could take a little fire, but being part Aquamarine, she had a limit. And back there, whoo, she was sure she almost found it.

But she made it! She looked to her prize, the Pink Diamond gemstone still encased in her teal bubble, lifeless, formless. A job well done. She had thought about putting the package in her new satchel, but ultimately decided against it. Although that was the _smarter_ choice, it wasn’t the more _fun_ option. Besides, nothing would happen to it now. Not that Bluebird was _protecting_ it; she just didn’t want it getting lost. And if it never left her hands, how lost could it get?

She spent a while flying, but soon, a shape started to stand out from the darkness. The closer she flew, the bigger it got, until finally, a large warship loomed over her, painted black over what used to be green and yellow. Only Bluebird knew how to find it, and she grinned happily as she flew closer.

A door opened from inside, the outer wall turning and opening like a sideways square. Yellow light filtered out from the geometric hole, but after the gem floated inside, space became dark again as the door shut.

Bluebird dusted herself off, even though she made sure to keep herself tidy. A job well done. Wonderful! She set the bubble down on the ground, then took off her satchel, draping the strap over the bubble so it didn’t float off, before unfusing.

Ruby reached down and picked up the satchel again, while Aquamarine took the bubble.

“Well, THAT’S over,” Aquamarine grinned. “I can’t believe we actually managed to pull that off!” She giggled.

“Did you see the look on his face? I don’t think Steven believed it, either,” Ruby laughed. 

“Honestly, that was _too. Easy.”_ Aqua punctuated the phrase, smiling.

The ruby’s gaze drifted to the bubble. “Hey, could I hold it for a minute? We both got him.”

Aquamarine’s gaze hardened. “Uh, NO. You have the bag, I have the gem. It’s just fair that way.”

“Fine, then here’s the bag,” Ruby practically hit her with it. “Lemme have the gem.”

“No! I want it!”

“Why you-“

The two started yelling at each other, Ruby hitting while Aquamarine flew up higher, holding the bubble tauntingly. Ruby pulled her back down, and Aqua tried to smack her away.

While they were scuffling, another door slid open. A taller figure walked in, her white boots making deliberate clunking noises on the hard floor, eyeing the scene. She rolled her singular eye, grumbling about incompetent soldiers.

“WHEN YOU’VE FINISHED,” the newcomer shouted over them. Aqua and Ruby froze. “I’d like my bubble, please.”

The two broke apart instantly. Aquamarine threw her hands behind her back, giving an innocent look. “Of course, Emerald. I’ll grab it for you now.”

The bubble had floated higher now, out of Ruby’s reach. Ruby frowned, grabbing onto Aqua’s leg. “No, I’ll get it for you!”

“No! Me!”

The two started fighting again, hands slapping and wings flapping, each trying to get closer to the orb.

Emerald sighed. Why was it that she always, _always,_ got landed with the most _incompetent_ of gems? Just get the bubble. The task was NOT hard. She took a few steps forward, grabbing the bubble herself. Her long, slender fingers wrapped around it as if it were made for her, and in a way, it would be. She grinned, her unusually pointed teeth almost glintening in the soft yellow light of the entrance room.

The texture of the bubble was smooth in her hands. The green gem ran a hand along it, almost caressing it, as if she were a supervillain petting her loyal cat on one of those human TV shows Bluebird had told her about. The gem inside, although pink in color, was tinted green, tainting it entirely into a more brown shade. Perfect. It made Emerald’s smile wider. Pink was a stupid color, anyways. So light, so harsh, so _off._ Green was much better. Why couldn’t there have been a _green_ Diamond? Made more sense for the color scheme, anyways. Or at the very least make it red. Pink was so dumb.

So… _off-color._

Gosh, even just _thinking_ the term made her tense. Those fools were probably off partying on a distant planet, spreading Steven’s message about love and acceptance to the farthest reaches of the Empire. Honestly, it was kind of disgusting. That little embarrassment couldn’t even have the decency to do that himself, insisting that he needed a break from what he called “gem stuff.” Well, a break he’d get! Without his own, gem stuff would seem farther away than ever. He should thank her next time he sees her. She did him a favor.

Upon seeing their superior with the bubble already, the scuffle halted. The two much smaller gems fell away from each other, Ruby landing on her feet, Aqua fluttering next to her.

Ruby pointed at the blue gem. “She started it.”

Aquamarine scowled at her companion, about to say something back, but was cut off.

“SILENCE!” Emerald glared at the both of them, fire in her eye. “I don’t care, it doesn’t matter! Honestly, I should throw you two back out into space where I found you!”

They both winced, casting glances at each other. Emerald didn’t threaten lightly, and she always followed through. They both knew from experience at this point.

Emerald’s glare lessened. She took in a deep breath, then returned her gaze to the bubble, her cruel smile returning. “Now that everyone’s gotten that out of their system, we have a guest.” She smirked, holding the bubble up to the light, watching as it lit the gem up with a glow. “What should we do with him first?”

“THROW HIM IN A GRINDER!” Ruby shouted, pumping both her fists.

“Drop him into a volcano!” Aquamarine grinned.

Emerald hummed, turning the bubble around in her outstretched hand. “Good suggestions I suppose, if we wanted to _kill_ him.”

Confusion hit the smaller gems like a wave. 

Aquamarine squinted at her superior, suddenly suspicious of her motivations. “Buuuut, wasn’t that the point?”

“To shatter him?” Ruby shrugged, giving her a wide-eyed glare.

Emerald gasped with mock betrayal. “No! You wouldn’t hurt your Diamond like that, now would you? Besides, it’s _illegal_ to shatter now.” She muttered the last line with a hint of disdain. “I don’t think he deserves it, anyways.” Her expression grew darker, shadows coming down over her eye. “He deserves something _so_ much worse. Don’t you agree?”

Ruby’s grin couldn’t possibly get wider. “Of COURSE!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Emerald straightened up, turning fully to her staff. “Have a cell readied for out guest. He’s going to be traveling with us for a while. I’m going to prepare some treatments as well. We want to make sure he’s well cared for, right?” A mischievous glint appeared in her eye.

“You got it, Emerald!” Ruby gave a thumbs-up.

“We’ll get on it right away!” Aqua supplied, her arms behind her as she leaned forward in excitement. Truly a pixie, that one, even without her wand.

Her underlings smiled and ran off towards the prisoner bay, placated for now from their constant, incessant bickering. Emerald smiled after them, but once they were out of sight, she slouched. She rolled her eye, dropping her smile, and let out a “yeesh,” before turning gleefully back to her precious bubble.

“Now as for _you,”_ she spoke to it sweetly, “you and I have some catching up to do. I haven’t seen you in at least, oh, never! I never did get to meet you, Pink.” She cocked her head to the side. “Not you _or_ your ‘mother.’ But that’s in the past.” She waved a hand up and down, as if shooing something away. “I’m sure we’ll catch up soon! Maybe even… become friends?” She laughed, the sound ringing down the vast hallways of her ship. “I’m sure we have much to learn from each other, and even more to gain.”

She tucked the bubble under her arm like a ball, and strode off down the hallway, cackling her villainous laughter all the way. She had killed Steven Universe, making her even more powerful than even the Diamonds themselves. 

The Empire had another thing coming if it thought she would just stop there.

* * *

By the time Connie had gotten off the phone with Greg, things had quieted down. Greg had told Connie to drop by again in 10 minutes to pink him up, and while everyone was waiting, a soft humming started from… somewhere. It progressively got louder, until finally, a green Roaming Eye landed on the beach outside. Amethyst practically stumbled out the front door to see what the fuss was about, Connie following close behind.

The door dropped open, revealing a small walkway down to the ground, and Lapis stepped out. She spotted Amethyst and Connie up by the railing, and raised her eyebrows a bit. She was in the air in a flash, water wings sprouting from her back, and landed on the wooded walkway next to the two.

“Where’s Steven?” The blue gem demanded.

“Inside,” Connie pointed a thumb over her shoulder towards the door.

Lapis wasted no time running to it, bursting through, and running over to the boy on the couch, shouting words of encouragement and reassurance to deaf ears.

Peridot walked out next, stepping backwards. She held her arms out in front of her, palms up, and repeatedly bent her fingers up, calling something forward. A cart was rolled out, Bismuth pushing it from behind. Peridot held up a hand for Bis to stop, and turned to the porch.

“IS STEVEN OKAAAAAAAY,” she yelled across the beach.

“NO, WHY,” Amethyst shouted back almost sarcastically.

“Amethyst,” Connie hissed, putting her hands on her hips. The quartz rolled her eyes.

Peridot stiffened, then turned back to the cart. She grabbed it now, pulling it along as she made for the stairs with Bismuth’s assistance. 

Sitting on top of it was a bunch of doodads and machinery that Amethyst didn’t recognize, a few belts, some screws, a screwdriver, a sticker book (???), and duct tape. There were a few other oddities, like a fork, but overall, it looked like Peridot had packed everything technology she could to help deal with Steven’s condition. She came fully prepared, and even had what appeared to be rolled-up blueprints tucked off to the side against the lip of the cart.

Once the two got to the bottom of the stairs, Peridot started trying to levitate the wheeled table with her metal powers. Bismuth ran up the stairs in front of it, guiding Peridot the same way she had guided Bismuth a moment ago. Being overly cautious, it took an agonizingly painful amount of time before the green gem set it down gently on the porch, where Amethyst and Connie took over, pushing it over to the door Bismuth now held open for them. Gosh, it was heavy. Amethyst grit her teeth, and shoved harder, barely reacting as it bounced violently over the lip of the door. 

Peridot shot in after them, shouting about how everything on the table was in a spot and there were fragile parts or things could bounce out and yada yada. Bismuth came in last, shutting the door behind her.

Lapis had since kneeled down next to Steven, grasping one of his hands. Garnet had placed a hand on her shoulder, not knowing how to comfort her. Pearl had perked up, watching as the group brought the equipment inside, and scurried over to inspect everything Peridot had brought.

“How is he?” Bismuth strode up to Pearl, grasping a hand. Her brows were creased with worry, lips pressed into a fine line.

Pearl looked at the equipment, determination starting to surface. She frowned. “We’ll know once we figure out what all Peridot brought here.”

“I’m glad you asked,” Peri smiled. She pulled her trash can lid out from a bottom shelf of the cart, using it to lift herself in the air a little higher than before. She reached over and picked up the rolled-up blueprints. “Since Steven is missing his gem, but his body functions almost like a gem in terms of light energy, I figured we’d just need to stimulate gem energetic pulses!” She unrolled the page in one sweep of her arm, showcasing what the purple gem could only describe as a really complicated generator condensed to the size of a small box. “I brought over a few things I thought could channel such things, including a few Gem components, and once we figure out how much energy Steven’s gem creates on a basic level, we should be able to give him back enough to get him moving again!” She pointed to a large, black, square panel, almost an inch think and easily eight inches across; an old CD player. “I have a few designs in mind, but I figured we could hook everything up inside this functionless old music containment mechanism and go from there.”

Pearl took in this information, nodding along. “A good way to stimulate Gem light energy is with specially made batteries that were created back in Era 1. They were almost like generators, and could power almost anything Gem technology.”

“You mean these?” Peridot picked up a tan bag, and upon opening it up, displayed two large, black batteries. Each one had a yellow line running across them, glowing softly.

Bismuth let out a sigh of relief. “So you think you can fix him, then?”

“Negative,” the technician replied, expression falling. “I can only keep him from dying, and even then, this is not a permanent solution. We still need his gem if he’s going to live.”

“So let’s go get his gem, then!” Amethyst burst out. “It’s up in space somewhere, and we’ve been to space before. We have the technology of the Roaming Eye, which has tracked his gem before! Bluebird can’t have gotten far!”

“But what if she HAS?” Connie rounded on the quartz. “What if Bluebird wasn’t acting alone? What if she got in a ship and warped off to who-knows-where, and we can’t find her!? Then we’d have wasted a BUNCH OF TIME trying to find his gem, while he dies on the couch, alone, because we were out searching for a half of him that WILL BE FINE ON HIS OWN FOR A WHILE!”

Silence hung over the room. Amethyst blinked a few times, shocked, while Connie took in what she just said. She let out a breath, relaxing and grabbing her forearm. 

“Look, I’m just worried, okay? But we need to have both Stevens alive in order for the fusion to work. Bluebird isn’t going to hurt him if she hasn’t already; she must have had a reason to steal him away. That means we have time.” She sighed, turning on her heel and walking back towards Steven. “We’re better off here for now, until we get his human side stable.” She flopped down next to Lapis, placing a hand on his forehead. After a second, she moved her hand to his hair, running her fingers through his curls slowly.

Garnet stepped forward, getting up from the other side of the couch where she was sitting. “Connie’s right,” she announced. All heads (except Connie’s) turned to her. “Bluebird is the kind of gem who likes to boast, so I feel it safe to assume that Steven’s gem is safe, for now. I don’t know what she’s going to do, or if her intention is even to shatter him, but if she does, she’ll either want an audience or want it to be dramatic. Just shattering him is not likely. We have time.”

“Good then.” Peridot crossed her arms. “If that’s settled, then let’s get to work! This stabilizer isn’t going to build itself. Pearl, come help me with this, if you would.”

The gem in question nodded, stepping forward. “Right.”

“Anything I can do to help?” Bismuth asked. 

Peri turned to her, thinking. “Actually, yes. I need you to take this adjustment strap-“ she pointed to a black band on the table- “and wrap it around Steven. We need to figure out how big his torso is so we can adjust accordingly.”

“Gotcha.” Bismuth picked the strap up and headed over to Steven, pulling back the covers.

Amethyst thought for a moment. They weren’t going to need her help, but she wanted to be useful. Standing here wasn’t getting anything done for anyone. So, she headed over to Lion.

“Hey, buddy,” she murmured to him, stroking his mane. Lion groaned, opening an eye to watch her. “I need you to take me to Greg. He’s in Chicago right now. Think you’re up for it?”

Lion closed his eye, frowning a bit, but after a second, he pulled himself to his paws. He stretched, tail curling in the air, then crouched down. Amethyst wasted no time getting on his back, and in return Lion let out a roar, opening a pinkish-white portal in front of them. He jumped through, and after a moment of traveling through what appeared to be a wormhole of some sort, they landed in a nice hotel room. 

Greg was sitting on the edge of his bed when the portal opened, and he got up as Lion landed. The man was shocked to see Amethyst riding him instead of Connie, but shook it off.

“Heya Greg.”

“Amethyst.” Greg pulled himself up onto the feline, admittedly pretty sloppy, but after a second of moving around, he was positioned behind the purple quartz, hands wrapped around her waist. “Okay, I’ve never done this before, so tell me how to-“

He was cut off as Lion let out one last roar, opening a portal and jumping through. Greg screamed as the trio rode through the wormhole, and when Lion’s paws hit the floor again, Greg fell off, pitching forward and landing on his back with a loud “OOF!”

Lion flopped down on the ground hard, panting. That was _eleven_ portals in one day, eight all around the same time! From the four from picnic earlier (the beach house, Connie’s place, Connie’s place again, back to the beach house), to going to Connie’s house, to the motel, the beach house, the motel again, back to the beach house, and finally Chicago and back, it was no wonder he was so tired. He groaned, resting his head on his paws.

All heads turned to Greg, some in surprise, some in relief. Garnet strode over to him, helping him to his feet.

The man groaned, holding his head. “Where’s Steven?”

Garnet turned her head, and Greg followed her gaze. As soon as his eyes settled on his child, they widened. He was running over there in an instant, hopping onto the adjacent part of the couch (as Connie and Lapis left him no room on the floor) and held his son’s head. “Steven? Steven, can you hear me?” Tears brewed in the corners of his eyes seeing him like this. There was no response- oh stars, he was barely breathing!- and he was burning hot to the touch. 

“He’s out of it,” Connie told him, placing a hand comfortingly on his arm. “But he’s alive. Peridot and Pearl are gonna make him a fake gem that should keep him alive for now.” She smiled hopefully, knowing it didn’t reach her ears. “He’s going to be okay.”

Greg blinked back tears unsuccessfully as water began to travel down his face. He looked to his son again, how sick he was. He moved the ice pack, feeling his forehead. Cold, but it quickly warmed back up to an unnatural height. Greg replaced the bag, running a hand down the side of Steven’s face, resting it on his cheek. It was too warm. The father took in a breath, steadying himself. “Okay. I believe you. We’ll… get this sorted out.” A pained smile crossed his face. “He’s gonna be okay.”

Connie looked down, not responding to him. Greg frowned slightly. That wasn’t like her, not from what he knew. He watched her reach up to place her hand on Steven’s belly, right where his gem should have been, tensing up. She brought her hand back towards herself, then took one of the kid’s hands and just _held it._ Gripped it like that was the only thing keeping him from fading to oblivion.

Greg wiped his eyes, then moved a hand to Connie’s shoulder. She didn’t respond to his touch, either.

The tension hung thick in the air, with the murmurs and clinks of the gems working at Peridot’s table the only thing keeping things at least a little brighter. Those sounds meant hope.

Greg honed in on that, running a hand through Steven’s hair. It was going to be okay. It had to be. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic won’t stay doom-and-gloom forever, I promise. Next chapter, things start looking up. There will be fluff, there will be calm moments, there will be hope. Not everything in here is angst, and I’m going to try and sprinkle in as much fluff as I can. 
> 
> Tell me what you think is going to happen! I’d be really interested in reading your theories/thoughts/speculations/advise/critiques! :D


	4. Awaken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gems work on trying to make up for Steven’s missing gem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEFORE WE BEGIN:  
> \- I think I have a schedule now! This will be the last chapter I upload just because it’s finished. After this, I’m going to try to aim for Wednesdays and Saturdays! However, I don’t think I’m gonna upload tomorrow. We’ll see!  
> \- Thank you all so much for the feedback so far! You all are amazing! :D
> 
> (UPDATE 6/8/2020: Stayed up until midnight again whoops. The changes this time can mostly be seen during the middle section. The whole “big moment” plays out much differently, where at first I was going for comedy, while now, I just went for the timing. The joke didn’t really land, anyway. It’s better now. And no; I did not change the third part at all. :) )
> 
> All that out of the way, enjoy!

Emerald’s war ship was not exactly what Aquamarine would call “cozy.” While the pixie-like gem always preferred lighter spaces to dark ones, Emerald’s ship was too bright. Artificial lighting had _always_ seemed too bright, causing the gem to set the lighting to a minimum on her own ship, as if challenging whoever installed the stupid lighting in the first place.

But, Aqua had no control to do that here. Emerald had her preferences, and Aqua would respect them. But, even the stupid Ruby agreed that the lighting was a bit much, but that was fine. That just meant that people couldn’t easily sneak around, and that was a good thing (especially considering the group of gems they were dealing with). That, coupled with the obnoxiously bright white walls of the interior was enough to make any bridge not worth it unless it was a fighting squad. The blue gem wondered how the ship was so dark on the outside, considering the brightness within. How did it not leak through the walls, becoming its own stars in the sky?

As of now, Aquamarine was alone, _finally._ She had left Ruby in charge of finishing getting the cell set up, and had gone to tell Emerald that it was ready. The ruby would be fine, hopefully. It wasn’t like she was going to set anything on _fire_ in the ten minutes Aquamarine wasn’t there to put it out, right? Right? Aqua paused, realizing that she may have just made a serious mistake leaving the hazbin guard unattended, but in a spiteful move, decided that whatever chaos that fire pebble created, it was her fault, and her fault alone. Although Aqua took pride in being a leader, she only liked controlling competent gems, not low-level Ruby guards. How Emerald even put up with the red ball of fire was beyond her understanding.

Now, Aqua arrived at a large, white door. It was in the shape of Emerald’s gem, longer than taller, with a split vertically down the front. On the right-hand side was a panel. Upon placing her hand against it, the door slid open, revealing the darkness within.

Emerald was sitting at a desk, multiple computer screens thrown up before her, each one displaying something different. Aqua was too far away to make any of it out, but she didn’t try, either. She instead eyed the gem, which was still bubbled away. Emerald had set it down next to her, and placed a kind of transparent, green chain around it to keep it from lifting off anywhere. Next to it was the destabilizer Bluebird had used on Steven, though now turned off, and on Emerald’s other side were an array of different, small, melee blades.

As she had been made in Era 2, Emerald didn’t have any real powers, but she did get to steal massive amounts of gem tech from Homeworld and everywhere else across the galaxy, even before Steven Universe had banned weapons and the such. She had a plethora of tech, and if Aqua had learned anything about her, it was that Emerald was unafraid to use it. To see her boss surrounded with the tech was unnerving, to say the least. 

Aqua placed her hands behind her back. “Emerald,” she called out, hoping the green gem couldn’t hear the waver in her voice. “The cell is ready.”

Emerald turned around, looking to the gem with her one eye, located on the left side. “Oh, thank you, dear.” She smiled. “We’ll be right over.”

The pixie gem watched as Emerald quickly shut down everything she had been working on. On a separate screen, she pushed up a tab, causing the room’s brightness to increase back to the painfully bright of that the rest of the ship. Then she turned, pulling the bubble away from whatever mechanism was keeping it in place, and stood. The chain fizzed and dissolved into nothingness.

As Emerald approached the smaller gem, Aquamarine took note- once again- of just how much larger this gem was compared to her. It never used to bother her before, but something about Emerald set the gem off. Not that she really minded the height difference, but something about the way the elite gem carried herself really bugged Aqua. A lot. But, it was no matter for her to address; Emerald was her superior, and she would respect her accordingly (even if it irked her).

“This way,” Aquamarine chimed, flying off back down the hallway. Emerald followed swiftly behind. The loud clinking of her heels was enough to keep the water gem on her toes, making sure to keep an even pace without turning back to look too much. It was just Era 1 etiquette: when in the presence of more important gems, do not speak unless you have a duty to, or are spoken to. If you’re performing a task, drop what you’re doing and assist them if need be. And most notable of all in this instance, try not to make eye contact unless you are engaged in a conversation with your superior, to which you then try not to break it at all. 

Maybe that was why that Ruby was so annoying; she did next to none of those. She acted like she and Aqua were equals. Yeah, right, and Aquamarine adored Steven Universe. She almost groaned aloud at the thought, but caught herself.

The winding halls of the warship, although exactly the same, were all fairly easy to memorize. Certain rooms always stayed in the same spot, and hallways could be told apart by how spaced out doorways and branching hallways were. Sometimes, one would come across lockers hanging out in the middle, or would run past a random cell bay (oftentimes close to important rooms, meant specifically for prisoners who had a way of escape and/or needed to be kept an eye on). Everything had a purpose and a place, and it made for an intricate web of order disguised as chaos. One just needed to simply memorize the patterns.

Steven’s gem, however, was to be kept in the regular, good-old prisoner bay, where rows upon rows of cells resided. All three of them had agreed quickly that it was for the best, after all- a display of power. And confidence. Keeping him far away meant that they trusted the mechanisms they had in place enough that they didn’t think he needed to be watched. It was meant to be an intimidation factor, or to make him underestimate them and think them dumb.

However, that was far from the truth. Rumors had spread, vast through the reaches of space, of the pure _power_ this gemstone held. Some claimed that it was a healer, others said it could shatter gems just by yelling at them, while others yet insisted that the reason their home planet was split in half in the first place was because of the pure power this one gemstone contained. Not only that, but it had the ability to shapeshift into anything of any size or any level of strength, according to Little Homeschool graduates. There were eye witnesses of a horrid beast that had appeared on the beach of Beach City just a year ago, meaning Steven could do this, and they had him. So nothing could contain the gemstone, not really, if any of these were true. Ruby had seen with her own eye that “Rose Quartz” could create shields and wielded a massive sword, and Steven had created a near impenetrable bubble out in space that could create oxygen. Plus, both Aqua and Ruby had seen him glow pink and become highly powerful. So taking these rumors lightly would be a massive mistake, and one that would surely cost them dearly.

In light of this, Aquamarine (at Emerald’s request) had installed a security camera up in the corner of one of the cells, back far enough in the wall that you could barely notice it, even if you knew it was there. But it could see you. The entire cell was visible to the devise, even directly underneath the camera. Emerald had made it explicitly clear that she wanted no harm to befall the gem, but also that she wanted to keep it as close under wraps as she could. Steven was a healer, true, but he was two halves of a powerful whole. When the gem was left without the pathetic empathy of a human, who knows what it could do. 

Frankly, Aqua didn’t want to find out.

Thankfully, when they got back, there were no fires. Ruby stood stiffly by the opening, awaiting Emerald’s and Aquamarine’s return. She watched them approach, eyeing the bubbled gem again. Aquamarine noticed that she had to stiffen to keep herself from reaching out to touch the sphere, which was smart. At least the dummy had some common sense, then.

Emerald walked right into the cell. The smaller gems blinked in surprise, each leaning in to see what exactly she was doing. They watched as Emerald _popped the bubble,_ letting Steven Quartz Universe’s gem _fall to the ground!_ They gasped.

“Wait, what’re you DOING!” Ruby shouted in panic.

“We all know how powerful Steven is, even _with_ his human half!” Aqua jumped in. She quickly flew forward, on instinct reaching out to bubble the gem again. “You’ve-“

“Got everything under control,” Emerald smirked, grabbing onto the pixie’s wings and halting her before she could complete her task. Aquamarine struggled for only a second to get free, then forced her self to calm down. How _dare_ she go against Emerald’s orders, even if they WERE pebble-minded. 

Emerald let Aqua go, and both of them backed out of the cell. The green gem hit a panel off to the side, sending yellow electricity out of the top of the ceiling. Instantly, the room was alight as a cage formed, and every surface sans the floor was covered in yellow buzzing. The glowing panels were often used to contain gems, but they only ever blocked the way out to the main hallway. Aquamarine had never seen it covering every single wall before. She jumped back, startled. Emerald just stood there, placing her hands behind her back with a smile, waiting for her guest to fully arrive.

* * *

It had been a few hours or so after Greg got to the beach house, but it felt so much longer. The whole time, the father had stayed by his son’s side, whispering encouragement and hope to him, sure that somehow, Steven could hear. Connie stayed at his side, unmoving to the point that a few times, Greg thought she’d fallen asleep. But then, she’d tense even more than she already was. 

About five minutes into just sitting and waiting for Steven to awaken, Greg had suggested that Connie go home. It was late, and there wasn’t much she could do, but Connie refused. Greg wasn’t surprised, but insisted that she at least call home and tell her mom where she was. She wound up sending a text to the doctor, knowing she wouldn’t be awake. Priyanka was always more reliable with the phone than Doug was, apparently, according to Connie. Greg wasn’t about to question it. It made sense- that woman liked to stay on top of things.

Now, however, Greg had gotten up. He couldn’t sit still and do nothing anymore while the gems were all gathered around the table, making the CD player that could save his son, at least for a short while. He hovered nearby, watching them work and asking questions about the mechanism every now-and-then, most of which were eagerly answered by Peridot. Peri, for as much as Greg loved the gem, could not dumb things down from her usual talk as much as she tried, so pretty much everything she said went over the guy’s head. So he elected to stay quiet and watch them work.

“Now place this screw here, and shut the panel… THAT’S IT!” Peridot’s gleeful remark made everyone within a ten-foot radius jump. She held up the finished devise in the air with both hands, triumphantly showing the whole room their accomplishment. She brought her arms down again and practically shoved the black box in Pearl’s face. “Now turn it on and give it a try!”

Pearl moved her hands off her ears, not fully trusting that Peridot wouldn’t try to blow out her non-existent eardrums again, but did as the green gem asked and took the devise from her. She pushed _“PLAY”_ on the CD player, set it down on the cart, and stepped back.

The whole thing had been completely transformed. Although it still held its basic shape, the player had been hollowed out of all the human tech inside of it and replaced with what Greg could only describe as “gem stuff,” as old as that phrase was started to get. Blinking light, shoots of electricity traveling down transparent wires, two black batteries, and a bunch of blockers. There were a few knobs sitting on top, though covered by the CD player’s lid. It honestly looked something like a breaker, or something straight out of a science fiction movie.

As Pearl hit the button, it whirred to life. Yellow lights started racing down wires faster than before, and the black batteries lit up a bit. A long, yellow line was etched into the side of each one, resembling what looked like a health bar from one of Steven’s old fighting games. The devise hummed, rattling a bit, components shaking and clashing against each other.

“Is it supposed to be making that noise?” Greg pointed at it lightly, turning his head to Pearl.

In response, the vibrations the thing was making increased. Peridot let out an “eep!” before quickly fumbling for the _“STOP”_ button. The devise’s shaking began to decrescendo, finally coming to a rest. Greg let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding in. 

Pearl picked it up, turning it over in her hands. “Now, let me see if I… Ah! Peridot, we forgot to add the final stabilizer on the back!” She handed the box to the gremlin next to her, who took it eagerly.

“Now how in _stars_ did we manage to do THAT? That’s such a rook mistake!”

Greg blinked. “Do you mean ‘rookie’?”

“That is what I said, but less cute, because this is a very serious situation and we don’t have time to be cute!” She reached for what looked like a dial on a radio, positioned it a little too quickly on the bottom of the CD player, grabbed black duct tape, and strapped it onto the back of the mechanism. She held the box out in front of her, displaying her work on the inside once again. “Okay, try it now.”

Pearl pushed _“PLAY,”_ and the CD player began to hum, but this time, is was kept at a mezzo. She, Peridot, and Greg sighed in relief.

“Now, for the ultimate test,” Pearl murmured to herself, turning.

Greg followed her gaze. His eyes rested on Steven, who was still on the couch. He hadn’t moved all night, and it was easily at least three hours since the “incident.” It was starting to really worry the older man, but he knew there was nothing he could do over there. Connie was still stationed by his side, as was Lapis to her right, so he was sure that they would say something if things went south. Garnet was currently in the kitchen, trying to cook breakfast, but quickly proved that she needed help. Amethyst was quick to assist, promising not to eat anything until the food was done. They had decided to make pancakes, maybe? Greg hadn’t been paying attention. Bismuth had gone back down to the forge in Little Homeschool, hoping to craft a few more weapons before they headed out. Everyone had their gem weapons, but she said it never hurt to be prepared. Besides, she had never made Steven a weapon (the Breaking Point didn’t count) and wanted to give it a try.

Pearl moved to walk over to Steven, but Peridot caught her arm. “Pearl, wait! He can’t wear that!” She snatched the sticker book off the table, and quickly started thumbing through the pages.

Pearl frowned. “Peridot-“

“AHA!” Peridot might have ripped a hole in the book with the amount of force the poked at it with. She tore out one of the stickers and moved towards the mechanism, slapping it onto the lid. Greg leaned over Pearl’s shoulder to look.

A little gold star with the words “GOOD JOB!” written on it in large text, large as they could be on such a small sticker.

Peridot gave a curt nod. “There. Now it’s ready to be worn by a Crystal Gem.”

Greg couldn’t help but shake his head. _Not the time to be cute, ya little gremlin?_ he thought to himself, amused despite the situation.

Pearl opened her mouth as if to say something, but decided against it and instead sped over to the couch. Greg and Peri followed behind, eager to see this work.

Pearl lifted up the blankets, revealing Steven’s yellow pajama shirt, then lifted that up. Underneath was what looked like a harness for mountain climbers. A belt ran across where his gem should be, with another one about two inches up. Both were connected by the overall-style straps looped around his arms. In the center, right above Steven’s navel, was the perfect place to plug in the CD player. Pearl moved to put the thing on, but hesitated.

Lapis frowned at her. “Well? What’s the holdup?”

“I-I…” Pearl looked to her, then back down at the player. “What if this doesn’t work?”

Practically everyone frowned at her. 

“It HAS to work!” Peridot spat. “We _need_ it to! And I built it, so therefore, it WILL work! I’ve done all the calculations on the exact amount of output he needs to create an artifical source equivalent to his actual gem. Now put it on!”

Pearl blinked and shifted away like she’d been struck, shocked to hear the venom in her voice, but Greg could tell that she was more just trying to get reacquainted with reality before doing this again. Her face held fear more than anything else, and he couldn’t blame her. 

“Right, sorry. I don’t know what came over me.” She positioned the fake gem above its place in the strap, ready to attach it. “Here goes…”

She was about to put it on, when suddenly, Steven’s breathing hitched. He took in a deep breath, fingers twitching. His eyes scrunched up a bit, probably in response to the light. Greg gasped, and heard others do the same.

“Steven…?” Connie whispered out, leaning over him a bit. “A-are you waking up?”

He groaned in response, trying to open his eyes. “C… Connie…?”

“STEVEN!” The girl threw her arms around him. “You’re awake!”

Lapis was quick to join it as well. “We thought you’d never wake up!”

In a flash, it was Dogpile On Steven time. Greg leaped back into his spot on the couch from before, just above Steven’s head, and ran a hand across his cheek. Peridot came up between he and Connie, still standing on the floor, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Pearl dove forward, hugging his midsection, while Amethyst bounced in from the kitchen area.

“DON’T YOU _EVER_ DO THAT AGAIN!” She yelled at him angrily, tears in her eyes. “We thought we LOST you, man!”

Steven blinked, seemingly confused. Greg could see the uncertainty in his movements, and the shakiness. Every part of him shivered, as if cold, but his cheeks were still hot (though not as much so as before, Greg realized with relief). He tried to sit up, moving an arm behind him, and pushed weakly. Connie realized what he was trying to do, and helped to push him up into a sitting position by shoving everyone else off of him. She climbed onto the couch behind him so he could lean back on her, to which he turned his head towards her gratefully. This placed Connie in between Steven and Greg, and the father felt himself reaching across her to tousle his son’s hair.

“Steven, I’m so glad you’re okay!” Greg exclaimed, tears brewing in his eyes again. “We were all so worried!”

Steven blinked again, just trying to understand what was happening. Greg could feel his son shaking now, the shivers much more violent than they had originally looked. He pulled away, looking to his boy again. “Do you need some more blankets? You’re shaking like a leaf.”

Steven didn’t answer. Instead, he reached an arm forward, past the blankets and towards his gem. His _missing_ gem. His eyes widened as he realized, breathing starting to increase.

Based on what Greg knew of his son’s powers, he was sure he’d be glowing pink right now if not for… obvious reasons. The panic in Steven’s eyes increased, his body stiffening.

“Wh- where’s… my gem…?” He gasped out.

Connie hugged him from behind, shifting awkwardly to wrap both arms around his neck. “It’s gone, Steven. It got taken again.”

“Gone…?” Something flashed in Steven’s eyes that Greg couldn’t recognize. “But I… I was just…”

“Oh, the stabilizer!” Peridot shot up, pushing anyone who stood in her way as she snatched the thing from Pearl. She held it up in front of his face for him to see, though it was too close for Steven’s drowsy eyes to really pick up on what he was looking at. “See this? This is your gem for right now! It even has a star!”

Steven frowned, then cocked a brow. “What…?”

Peridot nodded enthusiastically. “Pearl and I put it together! This light energy stabilizer should sustain you for a while, until we can get your real gem back from Bluebird!”

Pearl stood up. “Okay, everyone back up for a second, just until we get this thing on him.”

Amethyst moved first, although hesitantly, followed by Lapis. Garnet headed back to the kitchen to finish the meal she had been working on, while Pearl and Peridot started pulling back covers. Greg stayed where he was, confident he was out of the way enough to not have to move. He ran a hand through his son’s curls again, comforting him in any way he could. 

“Okay Steven, this may be a bit cold at first,” Pearl stated, “but it will warm up once we-“

She was cut off as Peridot shoved the thing downward. It clicked into place on the harness, the small knob on the back placed directly on his navel. Steven shivered even more violently, to the point Greg was sure his eyes must have been bouncing around like pinballs there for a second.

“-turn it on.” Pearl grumbled the second half of her sentence under her breath. She glanced off to the side, crossing her arms at Peridot.

If the gremlin noticed his discomfort, she didn’t react. Instead, she rattled the box herself a few times, checking to be sure it was secure, then pushed _“PLAY.”_ It rattled to life, quickly rising from a pianissimo to a mezzo again, the medium-loud humming noise stabilizing at a level that didn’t sound like it would just suddenly explode at any minute.

Steven gasped, tensing up as the box worked its magic. Light returned to his eyes, and his breathing finally, _finally_ evened out. He took a few gulps of air, as if coming up from drowning, before relaxing. 

“Wha… where am…” He blinked, looking around the room. “…the Beach House?”

Greg nodded. “How’re you feeling, Steven?”

“Groggy,” he almost muttered. “But better.” He looked around, suddenly filled with a lot more life. “How did I get here? How long have I been out for? And…” he looked down, reaching for where his gem should be, but not quite touching the spot. “…where’s my gem? Did…?” He frowned, thinking hard for a second about something, before his eyes widened. “BLUEBIRD!” He made to swing his legs over the side of the couch. “She ripped out my gem! She destabilized me, and nearly cut me in half, and she-“

“STEVEN! Steven, lay back down!” Pearl demanded, shoving his chest back into the soft fabric of the sofa. “You are in no condition to be going anywhere, you hear me?!”

Steven opened his mouth to protest, but saw the tears streaming down her face. She was only worried about him, and honestly, rightfully so. Was that selfish? No- she cared about him. It made sense she’d react this way. There was no shame anywhere.

Instead of arguing, he nodded and moved to get more comfortable. “H-how did you all find me?”

“Your motel owner called me,” Connie replied, placing a hand on his heart softly. “You must have unlocked the phone, though, and told him to call me. He used your phone.”

Steven frowned. “…Huh.” He looked up at her, then behind her at his dad. “Who all knows?”

“Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, me, and Connie,” Greg replied. “Plus maybe Connie’s parents, when they get her text.”

“You didn’t just _call_ them?”

Connie shook her head. “They’re probably still asleep, Steven.”

“Still asleep?” He frowned. “What time is it?”

“5:37,” Garnet supplied from the kitchen, raising her voice a bit to be heard.

Steven shook his head slowly in disbelief. “I’ve been out for a few hours, then.” His eyes widened as he realized what he just said. He shot back up. “I WAS OUT FOR A FEW _HOURS?_ HOW?” His gaze travelled to the window, where the first traces of grey, dawn light were starting to paint the sky. His focus then returned to his own surroundings, his right hand yanking his shirt up, ready to show everyone that his gem was gone again, only to instead find himself looking at a repurposed, early-2000’s black CD player. “I- oh. Huh?” He reached down to touch it, running a hand across the surface and feeling the buzz of it run up his arm a ways. “What…?”

“That’s what woke you up!” Peridot announced proudly. “I mean, you were already awake before that, but you weren’t responding to anything. After we put that on you, you snapped back to it!”

Steven cocked a brow, eyes not leaving the box at his navel as he continued to feel it, how odd it felt against his skin, his skin where his gem should be. “What IS this, exactly?”

“Well, it’s a highly-advanced makeshift gem energy creator,” Pearl explained, taking on the tone of a school teacher. “It uses 9GXQ batteries to create an artificial gem output to match the light that you gem…” she trailed off upon seeing the lost look on the teen’s face. She huffed and crossed her arms, disheartened that she couldn’t explain to the degree that she wanted to. “It’s a makeshift generator.”

Steven looked back and forth from her to his “generator” a few times, thinking about how to respond, before landing on a “huh.”

Greg stood up, moving around Connie to kneel by his son’s head. “Bluebird has your gem right now, but Pearl and Peridot managed to make up for it being gone by building this.” He pointed to the player. “It’s supposed to mimic a gem. You know how they’re made of light?” Steven nodded. “Well, the working theory is that you have the same light inside you, too, running either in your veins, nervous system, or both. Maybe everywhere. Without your gem, you lost it, which is why you were so weak. But these two geniuses over here-“ he pointed a thumb over his shoulder at Pearl and Peridot- “managed to recreate it in this CD player.” He tilted his head to the side. “Does that explain it better?”

Steven nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. Thanks, Dad.” He looked out the window again, wondering what direction the little pest had fled off to. He sighed, which quickly evolved into a groan. Bringing his hands up to his face, Steven rubbed his eyes with his palms. “So I got attacked last night and Bluebird has my gem. She flew off with it to who-knows-where, and the only reason I’m still here is because the motel owner showed up and called Connie. _Somehow._ And no one knows where she went?” He looked around, watching as heads shook. “Great. Juuuust great.”

Connie gently got up, allowing for Steven to lay back down. “Don’t stress over it. We can answer all your questions once we get your other half back.” Her eyes creased with worry. “You’re sure you didn’t see which way she went, right?”

Steven frowned in concentration. “Uhhh, no…? All I remember is her taking my gem out and bubbling it…”

Connie’s eyes widened. “So she _did_ bubble your gem! But that means…” she smiled in relief. “Your other half is free now. You should be about to reform at any minute!”

Steven looked down, thinking about this. Then, his eyes lit up. “I think you’re right,” he breathed. “I’m back! I’m just really, really far away.”

“That’s okay though! We can get him back!” Amethyst crossed her arms, reentering the room from the kitchen. “We tracked you down through the far reaches of space once before, remember? We have the Roaming Eye technology! All we need to do is search for Gem energy signals, and we should find you no problem! Being a Diamond, you give off more that most gems do anyways. We’ll find you in a jiffy!”

Steven smiled gratefully. “Thanks, Amethyst.”

Connie knelt next to him on the floor, wrapping her hands around his forearm. “Can you see anything? Last time, you could see through both sets of eyes, right? You both could.”

Steven hummed in thought. “I could try. Hold on.” 

He shut his eyes, squeezing them in concentration, as he tried to connect with his other half, who was already miles upon miles away, somewhere, in the depths of space…

* * *

Steven reformed. The first thing he saw was yellow, and green. He turned. Three walls and a ceiling of yellow, with green behind. One wall with a hallway behind, but still yellow. Three gems stood outside- two watched him fearfully, the third watched confidently. Steven looked at her. He knew her.

“Hello, and welcome aboard my ship,” Emerald said. She held out her arms. “You’re going to be traveling with us for a while. Isn’t that just exciting?”

Steven said nothing. His gaze shifted to the smaller gems. He knew them. Aquamarine and Eyeball. Bluebird. Bluebird stole his gem. Bluebird brought him here. Steven locked eyes with Aquamarine, unblinking.

Aquamarine squeaked and rushed behind Emerald. Eyeball chuckled at her. Steven looked to Eyeball. Her expression turned to one of surprise, then anger.

“Hey, what’re _you_ lookin’ at?”

“Eyeball.” Steven replied simply.

Eyeball growled. “Stop callin’ me that. My name is Ruby, an’ I’m the one who brought ya here! I could take you again!”

“Hey, no! WE brought him here!” Aquamarine yelled at Eyeball. Eyeball growled.

Emerald cleared her throat. The two stopped at once. They straightened out, and looked embarrassed.

“You’ll have to forgive them, Steven,” Emerald said. “They don’t seem to understand that you are our _guest.”_ She turned to the two, glaring at each in turn.

They muttered apologies at the ground.

Emerald turned back to Steven. “Anyways, I do hope you’re comfortable?”

Steven said nothing.

Emerald waited for three and a half seconds before laughing. It was nervous. She was scared of him, too. Or at least unnerved.

Assessment: they are trying to establish a power to not feel scared.

Response: pending…

“Well, comfortable or not, you must agree that your confines are rather limiting,” Emerald spoke. “We wouldn’t want you running off on us, now would we?”

Steven said nothing.

Emerald frowned. “Say something.”

Steven said nothing.

Emerald rolled her eye. “Alright, cut the niceties. Here’s the plan: you are going to stay in this cell and not try to run. Because let me tell you, you’re at the bottom of my ship.” She grabbed a screen and tapped it. Something slid behind Steven. He turned. There was a window, and outside was space. He couldn’t see Earth, or any place familiar.

Assessment: far from home.

“If you try to escape, you’ll be blasted away where no one will ever find you.”

Response: “I need it.”

Emerald blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“I need it.” Steven turned back to her. 

“What? Need what?”

“My other half.” Steven turned back to the window. 

Analyzing…

The window shut. Steven turned back to Emerald. She had the screen again, and tossed it to Aquamarine. She barely caught it, tossing it around in both hands before getting a good grip. “I trust you won’t be needing him anymore. Your human half is dead. Without you, that pathetic organic stands no chance.” She folded her arms. “Now, listen to me. You are going to stay here and not move. These walls will shock you if you touch them, so don’t expect to get out that way. And below you is space. There is no escape back to Earth from in there.”

Analyzing…

Condition assessment: trapped on Emerald’s ship. Human half is far away. Human half is alive. 

Conclusion: must get to him. Escape off ship.

Steven looked around at his confines. 

Analyzing…

There is a hidden camera in the top right corner. The window is blocked by the yellow force field. Force field completely surrounds everything except the floor. 

Scanning…

Force field comes from the roof. 

Conclusion: digging through the floor (but not too deeply) is no use.

Emerald waited for a response, but got none. She huffed. She walked away. “Ruby, Aqua, I want you to head on up to the engine room. Have the turbines ready for the jump into hyper speed. Make sure you shut the airlock on your way out. You’ll find me up in the captain’s quarters if you need anything.”

Aquamarine and Eyeball nodded. They followed behind.

Steven could not see where they went or when they split off from Emerald. A door shut from somewhere. 

Assessment: the force fields are the same as they were on Peridot’s ship.

Response: test to be sure he can’t leave.

Steven reached out to touch a barrier. It fizzed, sending out a spark. It hurt. Steven pulled his arm back. Yellow marks on his arm did not exist like they had before. 

Conclusion: Emerald wasn’t lying.

Assessment: being the gem half, he was now pure gem and followed gem rules.

Response: bend the rules.

Steven summoned a small, diamond-shaped shield. He cast it towards the wall. Upon making contact, it burst apart.

Conclusion: using powers will not help.

Steven sat down on the floor, staring out into the hallway, waiting for an idea to hit him or a gem to walk by.

He could see his organic half. Steven was sitting on the couch with Connie, Greg, Peridot, and Pearl. They were happy, but worried. Organic half was alive, and well. 

Assessment: he was living just fine without his gem.

Conclusion: he’d be here soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steven’s up! Woo! :D
> 
> I imagine that Steven, when split in half, has his personality split evenly across both halves. One half of him is the power, the other is the emotion. Most others tend to think the same lol. So, without emotion, Gem Steven is really hard to write. However, his perspective is super important to the story.
> 
> When writing him, I wanted him to come off as more robotic that anything. He’s still Steven, but he doesn’t have his other half’s empathy. Imagine it like Bo Burnham’s Left Brain / Right Brain experiment: Gem is the left brain, Human is the right. And no, those aren’t going to be their names. XD
> 
> I’m worried that Gem’s part might have been annoying, so let me know what you think I could do differently when writing him.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed! Tell me what you thought! :)


	5. The Ship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The journey is about to begin...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before we begin:  
> \- I’m not comfortable writing Connie’s character yet, so I’m kinda using this fic as a character study while I figure out how she ticks.  
> \- I’m also using this to figure out how to write Lapis, Peridot, and Garnet  
> (UPDATE 6/11/2020: Although not a whole lot changed in this chapter, there is a whole new section added in. The beginning also has new stuff. I said I was taking this time to further develop characters, and I meant it. I want to have chapters focus solely on specific people, and although this ain’t that- not yet- this was kind of like a practice run. I didn’t really change Connie’s part at all because of how important it is, and it still portrays what I wanted it to. I continue this at the end of the chapter.)
> 
> All that out of the way, enjoy!

Being far away in space meant that the connection was hard to find. If Steven had his stupid gem, it would be so much easier! He knew just based on the difficulty of this one task that it’d be impossible to connect to anyone else other than himself as it were right now. His gem half was just _right there,_ just out of reach. Steven knew he was there, and awake, but that was it.

Silence engulfed the room whilst Steven searched. The gems gave each other looks as they waited for a response. Connie rubbed his shoulder encouragingly, while Greg could only gaze on in hope. 

Steven focused, brows creased in concentration. It was right there…! Just a bit further, a bit harder, and suddenly, he could see… green. And yellow. It was hazy, and nothing really made sense, but after a few seconds, things started to clear up. There were three figures there with him, and it only took Steven a moment to recognize them. He gasped, holding his head as an ache set in, and deflated against Connie’s side. The vision vanished instantly, evaporating a lot faster than it came. 

“I can see him, but you’re not gonna like where he is,” Steven panted. He moved a hand up to cover his eyes, cursing inwardly. “He’s on a spaceship with Aquamarine, Eyeball, and Emerald.”

Amethyst, Pearl, and Greg stiffened. Lapis and Peridot exchanged a glance, knowing what at least two of those names meant. Greg subconsciously reached a hand up to run through his hair, glancing towards Pearl.

“Emerald?” Connie rested a finger on her chin, thinking about something. “I haven’t heard from her since… well, since the jungle moon. I kinda forgot she existed.” 

Steven chuckled lightly. “Yeah, me too.” 

“An Emerald has him?” Pearl stepped forward, looking at Steven with concern. “When have you met an Emerald before?”

“I haven’t.” Steven met her eyes, fidgeting with his hands. When Pearl continued to look at him with confusion, he sat back up with strain. Propping a hand behind him, he continued; “Lars did. When Connie and I visited him and got lost on a moon for a few weeks, it was because Emerald attacked him. She knew _him,_ not us.”

Peridot clenched her hands by her side. “If that _clod_ thinks she can mess with _our Steven_ and _get away with it…”_

Garnet’s footsteps interrupted her train of thought. Eyes turned to see the larger gem striding confidently over to them from the kitchen, a plate of nine pancakes in hand. She placed the stack down on the coffee table next to the couch, looking at everyone’s faces. Having been in the kitchen, she was able to hear a good chunk of their conversation, but not all of it. “So, Aquamarine and Eyeball are there, too?”

Steven nodded. “They were split, though.”

“That makes sense,” Garnet spoke, crossing her arms. “Bluebird was a fusion built on hate for a singular, common enemy. Now that their enemy is defeated, they have no reason to stay fused.”

Steven’s heart skipped a beat. _Defeated?_ He looked at his hands, noticing how his right instinctively traveled to where his gem was supposed to be. Was that true? Was he defeated without his gem? He felt his quivering begin to pick back up, and reached to huddle further in the blanket.

Connie noticed his shift in demeanor. “No, Steven, she didn’t mean- you’re not done yet!” She took his right hand, moving it off the CD player and holding it tight. Steven met her eyes, blinking a bit. “Garnet just meant that they _think_ you’re out. As far as they know, you’re dead. B-but you’re not, and that’s what matters!” She frowned at him, fire alight in her eyes. “Bluebird can’t take you out! She’s _Bluebird_ for crying out loud! Don’t you _dare_ think for a _second_ that she beat you.”

“But I need my gem-“

“Steven, you’re more than your _stupid gem!”_ Connie suddenly shot up off the couch, throwing her arms out to her sides. She grasped both his shoulders and pulled him close. “Did your gem topple an entire empire by talking to it? No! Did your gem ever make a promise to a corrupted gem to heal her before everyone else? No! Did your gem have even a smidgen of emotion at all?”

Steven blinked rapidly, eyes wide. “N-“

“NO!” Connie shouted before he could answer. “To say you’re defeated because you don’t have your gem is not right. That’s just what Aquamarine and Eyeball believe, and probably what Emerald thinks, too! They’re GEMS who have never met the nice human side to you! Or if they have, they thought it was weak! But it ISN’T! So don’t think that!”

Steven looked wildly around while he waited for her to finish yelling at him. Once she looked like she was done, he shook his head, eyebrows creasing a bit in concern. “Connie, I wasn’t thinking that. I need my gem to _live._ I know that isn’t who I am.” He chuckled half-heartedly. “I left to be human, remember?”

Connie blushed in embarrassment. “Oh. Right. Sorry, I don’t know what…” she trailed off, taking to sit back behind Steven like she had been before.

An awkward silence hung over the group. Garnet eventually broke it by coughing lightly into her hand, then displaying the plate in her hands, put on her best smile. “Anyways. Anyone up for some pancakes?”

She had burnt the pancakes a little bit, but other than that, they looked pretty good. Greg and Amethyst nodded excitedly as she began to dish them out, putting two pancakes on each glass plate she’d brought before passing them off to Steven, Connie, and Greg. She also took one, while Amethyst had the rest. Peridot and Lapis moved to the couch to sit awkwardly.

They ate in silence for a moment, although Steven found that he really couldn’t. It wasn’t that the burnt pancakes didn’t look good, he just couldn’t eat. He sighed, setting the plate down. 

Lapis noticed his discomfort. She loudly cleared her throat, drawing attention to her. “So, what’s the plan?” she asked in an over enthusiastic tone.

“We split up,” Garnet announced. Heads turned to her, some curious, others more concerned. “Pearl, Peridot, and Greg should stay here to care for Steven’s human half, while the rest of us go after his gem.”

Steven fully sat up now, looking to her in shock. “Wha- no! If you’re going after my other half, I’m going, too!”

“Steven,” Garnet raised a hand.

The teen didn’t back down. “No, I’m going. It’ll be way better that way! When we find my other half, we can fuse a lot faster since I’ll be there. Plus, I have that connection to him.” He tapped the side of his head. “I can tell you where he is! By keeping me here, you’d just keep me split longer.”

“He has a point,” Connie spoke up. She stood up from her place on the couch, keeping a hand on Steven’s shoulder. “By leaving him here, we’d be doing no good. It would just weaken the strength of the team. And there’s the chance that we don’t make it back in time. Besides,” Connie looked off to the side for a moment, catching Greg’s eye, before turning back to Garnet, “I want to be here for Steven. Both of him. I don’t want to have to choose between staying behind and going with you guys.”

Greg took a stand now, though still comfortably from his spot on the couch. “Connie and I can watch after his human half while we’re on the way, but I agree it’d be easier to bring him along. If you’d have me, anyway,” he added sheepishly, looking away and rubbing the back of his neck.

Garnet held her position for a moment, but after a moment of weighing different possibilities in her head, she sighed. “Alright. He can come.”

Steven sighed in relief. “Thanks, Garnet.”

The gem nodded, then set her plate down. She motioned for Peridot to follow her, and walked back into the kitchen area.

Connie turned back to Steven. “Think you can you stand?”

“I don’t know,” he replied honestly. “Hold on.” He flexed the muscles in his legs, feeling the difference in them now. Although the CD player was doing its job for the moment, he still felt weaker than usual, and much, much more shaky. But it was worth a try. He pushed off of the couch, felt his weight shift to his heels, and nearly fell backward. Connie’s hand found its way to his back quickly, helping to steady him. He shot her a thankful look. He widened his stance a bit more, finding his center of gravity, and after a moment, was back on his own two feet. He smiled awkwardly. “Well, I can stand,” he announced, shrugging.

Connie kept her hand on his back, giving a little extra support as he lifted a leg. His center of gravity was all over the place, but with Connie’s help, he managed to stay upright. After a couple seconds, he was bringing his other leg forward, too. He could walk, though it was an awkward, unbalanced, slow, and very shaky.

After a minute, he stopped. “Whew,” he breathed. “Glad that’s going okay, at least.”

“Then let’s get going,” Garnet announced. She and Peridot were coming back from the kitchen, and the green gem looked like she was the only thing between doom and the fate of the world. Grim determination strained her features, although she still gave Steven a fond look of hope. She handed him what looked like a basket of various fruits and a few water bottles- between the three humans, it was enough for about two days before they’d need to restock. Hopefully that would be enough.

“Pearl, go get Bismuth,” Garnet commanded. “We’ll get everyone on board Peridot’s Roaming Eye.”

Pearl gave a stout nod, and in a flash of the warp pad, she was gone.

Lapis retrieved the spare outfit Pearl had snatched from his motel room, featuring his regular star shirt, jeans, and iconic pink jacket. Steven and Greg took the outfit to the bathroom, trying to get him dressed quickly (which was a bit awkward), and once they were done, they came back out. The teen was still barefoot, unfortunately, but it would work for now.

Connie had since folded the blanket and was working on the other two still sitting there while Amethyst emerged from upstairs with three pillows. Peridot was at her cart, making sure everything was present and accounted for, all while scrounging for more spare parts that might come in handy that may be laying around. Garnet came in from outside, handing her a small hammer that had fallen from the cart earlier that, fortunately, they hadn’t needed while constructing the CD player. 

Once it was agreed they had everything, the group headed out, with Connie and Greg helping Steven keep his feet underneath of him. Each step was more confident than the last, and soon, he was walking a steady pace. Everyone headed to board the craft on the beach. 

The Roaming Eye was your standard Ruby ship, except for the fact that it was owned by Peridot, who had made a few adjustments. Just little things, like the outside red color had been repainted Peridot green, the inside was light Lapis blue instead of yellow, the lights were green, the ship was recalibrated for Peridots, the gravity engines had been modified to almost 4,000 miles a second faster than before, and, of course, any and all Ruby imagery had been replaced with Peridot. The diamond symbols had been replaced with yellow stars, and there were two large containers of water on either side of the door.

Peridot rushed in, heading straight for the chair in the middle. On it sat a white sailor captain’s hat, and she quickly placed it on. Her hair had to flatten to allow it to fit, making the cap almost buoyant, but it stayed on. She turned around back to the door, throwing her arms out.

“Welcome to the S.S.Friendship! What used to be a Ruby ship is now a Peridot ship. Isn’t it great?” She turned excitedly to the controls. “I’ve been wanting to take it out for a test flight for a long time, but I just haven’t had the opportunity. This is the perfect chance to see what that engine can really do!” 

Steven blinked, trying to take it all in. “You did all this on your own?”

“Oh, of course not,” she replied simply, not turning to look at him. “I had Lapis and Bismuth help, too!” She sat down in the captain’s chair, tapping at the panels in front of her. “Lapis did the decorating, while I picked the colors! Bismuth had a few recommendations that we took into account as well, such as the water troughs by the door! With closed tops for convenient warping.”

“I really like what you’ve done to the place,” Connie grinned. “Those Rubies had no class.”

Steven shook his head, dramatically clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth in mock disappointment.

Connie took his hand, guiding him over to the wall nearby. The panels were all by the window up front, so most of the wall space was free to sit by. The two sat down, watching as the others filed into the room. Greg wandered a little, taking in the details. Steven could see his nervousness about the whole situation, and remembered that the last time he’d been on a Ruby ship was when they had to rescue him from the zoo. He seemed to be okay, though, and headed over to the other two humans leaning against the light-blue wall. He reached for the basket, and inspected the inside. 

“Nothing but fruit for a while, huh,” he observed. 

“This shouldn’t take too long,” Connie reassured, giving a half shrug. “We shouldn’t need to eat anything at all if this goes well.”

Greg frowned, sneaking a glance at the blankets she had taken the time to fold. He sighed, setting the basket aside. “Okay, if you’re sure…”

The tap of light footsteps called the three’s attention. Pearl bounded aboard the ship, excitedly headed in Steven’s direction. “Oh, Steven, wait ‘til you see! It’s beautiful! Bismuth made you a sword!”

“What?” Steven blinked, trying to stand, only to realize with relief he didn’t have to. Bismuth followed next, her heavier footsteps echoing in the small confines of the Peridot ship. In the rainbow gem’s hand was a sword, double-bladed with stars on the hilt. She’s also made a scabbard, colored salmon red with a white star in the center. The scabbard was slung over her shoulders, and she presented the blade to the teen with a wide smile.

“I know you don’t like fighting, and a sword’s not your style anyways,” she began, “but I figured that you might need a weapon for self-defense at least. It’s just like your mother’s; made only to poof, not to shatter.”

Steven, star-eyed, slowly took the blade from her. It felt heavy in his hands, or maybe that was just the weakness he felt. Either way, it still felt great. He looked at Connie, and could see the same look of pure awe on her face, too. 

He turned back to Bismuth, smiling from ear to ear. “It’s perfect.”

Bismuth winked, shooting him a finger gun. “Pleasure doin’ Bismuth with ya, as usual,” she grinned. She grabbed the scabbard, moving it off her shoulder before handing it to Steven. She gave him one last happy look before turning back around, heading over to talk to Pearl and Amethyst.

“Could I see it?” Connie breathed. Steven looked to her, watching with amusement as she gently ran a hand along the blade.

“What, did you forget yours at home or something?” he chuckled.

Connie froze. “Actually, yes, I did!” She leapt up, bolting out the door in a panic. 

“CONNIE! Where are you going?” Pearl called after her. The engine roared to life, just as Peridot spun around to look at the scene.

“We’re about to leave!” The captain called after her, throwing a hand out.

“I know, I left my sword at home! I’ll be right back.” She put her fingers to her mouth and whistled, the tone echoing across the beach. 

Nothing happened. Connie stood there for a moment more, waiting, before blowing with her fingers again. More nothing. With a huff, she started off across the beach, bolting up the beach house stairs and into the front room.

* * *

This couldn’t be happening. Lion was here, but he hadn’t moved. The poor feline had opened so many portals today, but he just needed to do it one or two more times, and then it would be done. He could rest until they got back, and probably after that! Why wasn’t he moving?

He had taken to lying on the floor, near where he had landed a few hours ago, and hadn’t moved a whole lot. He was fast asleep.

Connie rushed over to him, shaking his shoulder. “Lion, you gotta get up! I need my sword! It’s at my house, and I forgot it! Lion, I need it! Lion!”

The cat yawned, but other than that, remained motionless.

This couldn’t be happening. Steven was _dying._ Didn’t Lion know that? Of course he did. Why was he acting this way? Did he not care? No, that wasn’t true. Why wasn’t he acting like it? He’s tired. _So?_ Steven’s in trouble, and he’s just lying here doing nothing! 

Connie grabbed at his fur, trying to get him to move. “Lion, we don’t have time for this! You gotta get up! I need that sword!”

Still, the lug didn’t move.

Letting out a huff, Connie moved to his front. She lifted the fur above his eye, forcing it to open. Lion blinked, giving her a blank look. 

“You HAVE to get up. Steven’s in trouble. You knew that before, why don’t you know that now?” She dropped it, letting his eye shut again, before trying to lift his head up. “I just need a portal to get my sword. C’mon! Just open the portal!”

Lion moved his head away, letting out a warning growl. Connie growled back. 

“Okay, you’re tired, I get it. I’m sorry to ask you to do this again, but Steven needs us! _You can’t just be useless!_ You’ve gotta help!” She tried pushing him upwards, moving to his side and lifting up under an arm. 

Lion swatted her away, giving her a hard look. 

She was about to shout something at him again, but instead, took a deep breath. _Take a moment to think of just flexibility, love and trust. This isn’t how we fall apart._ “Look. I get it. We’ve asked a lot from you today. But please, we need to get my sword. I need to help protect Steven. He’s dying, and can’t defend himself. Err, well, he can, but not very well.” Frustrated tears started forming in her eyes. “So if you can just please _move!_ We’re leaving, so this is the last favor we’re gonna ask of you for a while. I promise. Just please, _please_ do _something!”_

Lion looked at her. He maintained his stare, seconds going by like hours, before he let out a chuff. He closed his eyes and lifted a paw. Before Connie knew what was happening, he had pulled her down on the floor with him, buried under the cat’s arm. He gave a soft growl, trying to tell her something, but it went in one ear, out the other.

Connie threw Lion’s paw off of her. “LION! _What was THAT for?!”_ She face palmed, her entire body ridged with anger and frustration. “You know what? Fine. I’m going to go do something USEFUL. Stay here and do _nothing_ for all I care! But when Steven dies and I couldn’t help save him, it’s on _you.”_ She whipped around and raced out the door again, wiping the tears from her eyes. 

She couldn’t fall apart now. Not when Steven needed her. Besides, she could fight without her sword (although that made the task so much harder), or she could ask to borrow the one Steven had just been gifted. He didn’t really know how to use that thing, and Connie would be better at it than him, anyways. 

She got onboard, not looking at Steven as she flopped back down next to him.

He was silent for a minute, digging for words to say. “…No luck, huh?” he eventually observed, hoping he hadn’t said the wrong thing.

“No. Nothing.”

Connie maintained her staring contest with the ground, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Steven looking for something to say. She was grateful when he didn’t say anything, instead offering a hand on her back. He didn’t have to make her feel better, and she didn’t want him to. That wasn’t his job, not anymore. And she’d keep it that way for as long as she could.

He deserved a break.

“Yo Peridot, what’s the status on the trackers?” Amethyst piped up, trying to make conversation. Connie only now realized how silent the room had become since she got back.

“Not well,” Peridot answered distractedly. “The scanners are supposed to be looking for the energy outputs of nearby gems. It can see us, and things nearby within a few miles, but after that, it all becomes distant scales. And all I can see right now is all the gems on Homeworld, or at least, in Homeworld’s direction.”

“Steven’s a diamond. Shouldn’t it give off a higher signal than normal gems?” Amethyst asked.

“Yes, that seems like a logical conclusion,” Peridot confirmed. “I don’t see it, though.”

“Could Emerald be hiding somehow?” Bismuth asked.

“That might be it,” Pearl confirmed, thinking about something. “Emeralds were just below most Homeworld elite gems, so she would have had access to this kind of technology and would understand its functions. This means that if she wanted to hide from us, all she would need to do is stay just out of range of the close-range scanners and stay in the direction of more gems.”

“And because Steven’s a Diamond, she’s using the other three on Homeworld to mask her location,” Garnet finished.

“Exactly,” Pearl snapped her fingers.

“White Diamond especially gives off high levels of light energy,” Peridot commented. “Rubies and other captains would use her like a beacon of sorts to navigate. She could very easily be overpowering the sensors, not picking up on Steven’s location at all.”

“So, she’s kind of like a Gem Northern Star?” Greg asked.

Garnet nodded. “That’s one way to describe it, sure.”

Peridot started clicking buttons on her panel, and the engine revved more. “Okay, I’m gonna need at least two co-pilots. I know you drove one of these things when you went to save Greg from the Zoomans, so if one of you could assist me in driving the ship, that would be a great help.”

Pearl and Garnet were quick to step forward. They each sat on either side of Peridot, spaced out by a good couple of feet from each other, and started tapping at the panels in front of them as well. 

The ship shook, then stopped, then shook again. The bottom of the thing lifted up off the ground, and the door closed, creating an airtight seal the instant the walkway made contact with the walls. An air conditioner kicked on from somewhere. 

Connie braced herself. She hadn’t been in one of these before, but had been on a ship during a bad takeoff. Not an experience she wanted to repeat, but if she had to, she’d grit her teeth and do it.

She felt a warmth touch her hand. She looked up and met Steven’s gaze, his hand resting on hers in reassurance. He must have seen her discomfort. Because of course he did. She managed a small smile back to him in thanks, and focused on his hand. This helped ground her to reality a bit more as the ship shuddered one last time, before zipping off into space.

Wasn’t as bad as the last takeoff she had been in, but it still jarred her all the same. 

Another space adventure, after everything was supposed to be over. Connie shut her eyes, leaning back against the now steady wall, and took a deep breath. Just one more time, and they could put it all behind them. They’d bubble Bluebird and Emerald, and whoever else was involved, send them to Zircon back on Homeworld, and have her decide their fates. Connie hoped it’d be 10,000 years of bubble encasement.

But that was in the future. She needed to focus on now. And right now, Steven needed her.

Subconsciously, her fingers wrapped around the hilt of his new sword. 

_Steven needed her._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This just in: Peridot remains the most precious Crystal Gem on the team :)
> 
> I wanna talk about Connie for a sec. She is under a ton of pressure, and she is also constantly being reminded of White’s head. Because of this, she’s active very irrationally, and is very irritable. It won’t last forever and we are gonna address it later down the line, I promise! 
> 
> Anyways. Tell me your thoughts, and I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> (UPDATE 6/11/2020 cont.: So Lion has a very interesting thing going on, eh? I swear there’s a reason I’m having him act like that other than just him being tired. Lion’s been shown to be wise for being an animal before, and I’m here to continue that, darn it!)


	6. Behind Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Steven is at peace, for a while.
> 
> (Featuring a roach, some original content, and fluff!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEFORE WE BEGIN:  
> \- I’d like to remind everyone that AU is a scientific term, short for “astronomical unit.” It measures the distance from the Earth to the Sun (on average).  
> \- This fic needs more fluff, and I tried. Tell me how I did ^^;
> 
> (UPDATE 7/19/2020: I. ADDED. AN. ORIGINAL. SONG. I am so proud of this one, y’all. I have a melody in my own head for how this one could have sounded, too, and I kinda want to actually write it! Idk what I’d DO with it, but I want it to exist haha. Other than that, Bluebird is SUPER fun to write. Added more banter with her, as well as some new stuff from Gem Steven. You’ll see what I mean. More notes at the end of the chapter!)
> 
> (Oh, and shoutout to @Stargazer19 and their SU Time Travel AU, “Templeschool,” for reminding me that music does, in fact, happen here lol. A song appeared in their most recent chapter on Thursday, and I got inspired lol. Anyone here watched Tangled the Series? It’s got some bops in it, yo.)
> 
> (Also the original name for this chapter was “Lifeline.”)
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

Steven’s gem half looked up at the walls surrounding him. He jumped up, using his floating powers to hover. The ceiling had a field, too. Upon touching it, pain shot up the gem’s arm. It wavered as the hard light got jumbled up in the shock. Steven grimaced and floated back down.

Trial forty-five. _Conclusion: failed._ Turns out, digging through the ceiling with the force field still there was just a bad idea the third time as it was the first.

While trying to escape, Steven had tried fifteen different methods so far. Each one had three trials. All of them had yielded the same result. He was still stuck in prison.

Steven took a moment to check in with his human half. As he was the gem half, it was easier to connect on his end than it was for the human half. Could his other half connect at all? He wasn’t sure. Probably not. His human half was on a ship now, a light blue ruby ship by the looks of it, and was surrounded by friends and family alike. It looked like he had food. Good; he was doing well.

The gem looked around the cell again. He analyzed for any weak points. The weakest seemed to be the opening to the hallway, but that was also covered with a field.

Trial forty-six: _bypassing the forcefield by force._

Steven already knew that gem powers were useless against the walls, but what if he used none? It was a logical conclusion. He had only tried getting through the field by going slow so far. What if he went faster? He might poof, but it was a risk worth taking. His gem itself was a physical object and obeyed physics accordingly. It would be better if he poofed, then. His gem would just fly right out without his hard light form interfering.

He backed up, nearly touching the field on the wall with the window. He stared straight ahead at the hallway. He did a quick calculation of the force he’d generate within that small expanse of eight feet, knowing logically that it wasn’t enough. But Steven didn’t save the world by giving up when logic told him to. He backed up as far as he could, took in a breath out of habit, and ran for it.

He smacked into the field head-first. The force of the impact sent him tumbling backwards, nearly hitting the field on the opposing side. He was now splayed on the floor face-down. It hurt more than before.

Interestingly, through the other half of his vision, he saw his human half seize up for a moment. Had he felt that?

Conclusion: _not doing that one again._

Trial forty-seven: _pending possible trials…._

He heard a door open from somewhere. He stiffened, pulling himself effortlessly to his feet. He stood unintentionally in the center of the cell, waiting for whoever it was to show their face.

Soon, he heard the gentle flap of water wings. After a few more seconds of waiting, Bluebird fluttered into view.

“Hallo, love! Nice to see you again, up an’ movin’ around!” She giggled, Cockney accent as heavy as ever.

Steven said nothing.

Bluebird rolled her eye. “Stiiiiill givin’ everyone the silent treatment, eh Stevie? Honestly, dear, that’s kind of rude! I’m just trying to make conversation!” She giggled. “Well, I suppose you aren’t exactly ‘im now, are ya? Yer a lot more _pink_ and _glowy_ and all that.” She waved her hand around in a small circle.

Steven gave her a blank look.

_Analyzing…_

Result: _This time, the fusion was unafraid of him._

Conclusion: _she’s more confident fused together than they are when they’re separated._

Response: _pending…_

“Anyways,” Bluebird continued, placing her hands on her hips, “I just came by to check on you. You’ve been making quite the ruckus since we left you, yeah? There isn’t a way to escape, and you know it.” She shot him a knowing grin.

Steven said nothing.

Bluebird waited for him to say something, and when he didn’t, she sighed. “Honestly, you are frustrating to talk to. Have you even been listening? Your ‘uman half was much more of a talker.” She snapped her finger dramatically. “Say, I’ve got it! You’re not yourself without him, are ya? You’re just the gem ‘alf, and that means you have no emotions! Yer a shell with power, ain’t cha?” She mock gasped. “By Jove! We can’t call you ‘Steven’ anymore, then.” She tapped her chin, continuing to shoot the gem smug looks. “Say, I’ve got it! How about ‘Pink,’ yeah? Since you’re just Pink Diamond without your human half.”

Steven froze. His eyes got wider, more focused.

Bluebird noticed his discomfort. “Oh! Did I strike a wee bit of a nerve there? Don’t worry, Pink, I was just jokin’ with ya! I’d actually feel _bad_ about shattering Pink Diamond.” She giggled.

Steven did not giggle. He stood ridged, bubble boxing gloves with spikes appearing around his fists. Even though his expression had not changed, it almost looked like he was glaring at Bluebird. Somehow.

Bluebird backed away, holding out her arms. “Ohhh nooo, did I make Stevie-weevy _upset?_ Is he gonna try to _poof_ me again? Attack me and then give a speech about _loooooove?”_ She brought her clasped hands up close to her cheeks, bending two legs into the air as she shot the gem a mocking look over her shoulder. After a second, she burst out laughing, her jingle laugh echoing down the hallway. “Ohhhhh, I’m so _scaaaared!_ You got me!”

Steven said nothing. His eyes continued to burn into the fusion, the whites of his diamond pupils almost seeming to glow as well.

Bluebird raised her brows, realizing that his pupils had not been diamonds a minute ago. “Ahaha, Steven, what’s with that look? You didn’t think I was _serious,_ did you?”

The glowing teen said nothing. He continued to glare at Bluebird, but after a moment, closed his eyes. His glow dimmed just a bit, and upon opening his eyes again, they were back to being just regular pupils. The boxing gloves disappeared.

Bluebird blinked. Then she let out an annoyed huff. She crossed her arms and clicked her tongue. “Tempa, tempa. I can’t wait to get rid ‘a you. Emerald says we’re not allowed to _shatter_ you, unfortunately, but she has another idea. She hasn’t told me what it is, but she promises it’ll be worth keeping you around.” Bluebird shook her head slowly. “I might actually feel bad for you, if not for the whole talking-to-a-wall thing you have going on over there.” She frowned. “Although, I suppose you must have some emotion. Shells don’t react that way…” Her voice got quieter as she started mumbling to herself, her components beginning to softly argue about what that whole eye thing could have been about. It looked like Aqumarine was winning from the tone in her voice.

Steven said nothing, but he did look away. He focused on his human half. He was still sitting on the floor, turned towards Dad. Dad was smiling, delighted to be having this conversation with him. What were they saying? He couldn’t hear. Dad looked a bit worried, with lines crossing his face. When did he sleep last? He looked tired. Connie was probably on his other side, but from this angle, he couldn’t see her. Lapis was in the background, and she said something. Dad turned to her and let out a small laugh, then said something back. They both looked in Peridot’s direction for a second, then back at each other, chuckling together about whatever she had said.

They looked peaceful.

“Steven Universe, will you do _SOMETHING?!”_ Bluebird suddenly shouted.

Steven turned back to look at her, the almost-happy image slipping from his head. She was furious, hands balled into fists by her side in anger.

Conclusion: _her confidence was a façade._

Bluebird got closer, pointing a finger at him accusingly. “You JUST were emoting! Why are you back ta bein’ a wall again? At least the walls in the palace were ALIVE!”

Steven didn’t move. He met her gaze evenly, almost looking bored. “What do you want me to do.”

Bluebird blinked in surprise, not expecting him to actually respond. “Oh, I-um. I… didn’t think you’d actually answer me.” She laughed nervously.

Steven eyed her levelly. “You separated me. You could have killed me.”

“Oh, is _that_ what this is all about?” Bluebird grinned. “Ah, yes. Emerald set me out to do it. She’s not the _nicest_ boss I’ve ever ‘ad, but it feels good ta be taking orders again. She has a plan laid out to get rid of you forever. I was supposed to get you, and she’d do the rest. So far,” she chuckled, “I’d say it’s all going quite smoothly!”

She flared her wings at the boy, lifting up into the air. She was now looking down on Steven with murder in her eye. “In just a few short hours, Steven Universe will be dead. The whole galaxy can go back to how it was! Finally free of you, and of the Diamonds. Emerald has big plans coming our way, and she promised that we’d get rewarded handsomely for our efforts.” She giggled in delight. “Isn’t that exciting? Era 3, ending as quickly as it had begun!”

_Processing information…_

Bluebird wanted to kill him, but Emerald told her no. Emerald has other plans. Thus, Emerald has a strategy. Era 3 might end if they pull whatever it is off. This means that the Diamonds may be somehow involved. Steven supposed he should feel something negative about that. The word “anxious” snuck into his head. He needs emotions. He needs his human half. Where is his human half? He’ll be here soon. Just hold out until he gets here.

Steven finally closed his eyes. He turned away, looking at the opposing wall. “Open the window,” he demanded.

Bluebird scoffed. “In your _dreams,_ love! In case you’ve forgotten in that empty head of yours, _I’m_ in charge here. Not you.”

“I won’t try anything. I want to see the stars.”

Steven turned back to her. Bluebird had raised an eyebrow. Steven closed his eyes, trying to remember what it felt like to plead. He needed his human half for this.

_No, don’t dwell on that. He’d be here soon._

Awkwardly, Steven pulled his eyebrows up and let his head drop a bit. His eyes opened, half-lidded. “Please.”

Bluebird blinked her eye again in surprise. She squinted at him. Did he do something wrong with his expression? Wasn’t it just muscle memory at this point? Bluebird looked away, having a debate with herself. After about five seconds, she sighed.

“Alright. I don’t know _why_ I’m doing this for you, but you betta remember this,” she growled. “It’s the least I could do for someone so powerful, but completely _empty_ inside.” She fluttered over to the panel just outside his cell door, tapped at it for a moment, and then with a hiss and a sliding noise, the window reopened.

Steven turned to it. There were zero constellations he recognized, but then again, he never did take the time to memorize. Maybe he should do more star mapping once he got back home? In case this happens again.

There was a… well, not a hole in his chest, that would be inaccurate, but a something missing inside of him. He supposed it was his human half, and his emotions. He still had his emotions, but they were locked away in a part of his mind that he couldn’t reach. He had been trying, but to no avail. He needed his empathy, or his happiness, or his sadness. He needed to feel regret about not being able to protect himself, like he was supposed to do. He needed to feel anger at his captures. He needed to be able to use emotions to think his way through the problem like he usually did! He needed to be able to feel human emotions to do _anything!_

Wait, there! For just a moment, he felt it. Desperation. But as quick as it came, it was gone again. Curses. He was so close.

Out of habit, he reached with his right hand to grab at where his gem sat in the center of his naval. It was still there. But it shouldn’t be. It should be with his human half. Protecting him.

The stars were all tinted yellow, but Steven didn’t mind. He walked forward a few steps before sitting down, legs crossed in front of him, eyes glued to the open canvas of eternal night.

“Not a ‘thank you’ to be found,” Bluebird muttered to herself as she fluttered away again. After about ten seconds, her voice echoed down the hallway, “enjoy it while you can, Steven Universe!” Then a door slammed shut, and once again, Gem Steven was alone.

* * *

_A few minutes earlier…_

Steven’s human half leaned back against the wall, staring at nothing. The CD player- or the “lifeline,” as he’d heard Peridot call it- was doing its job well enough, and so far, nothing seemed to be off. The two batteries powering it apparently had enough energy to act as mini generators for ships and technology, but asking them to act like complete Gems was harder to do. Under normal circumstances, their life could last up to a week, according to Pearl. However, if Steven tried to do anything other than lie down and talk, the batteries’ lives would shorten. By how much was anyone’s guess. That was logic though, Steven thought. Just like not using your phone through the day; by just having it on, the battery drained faster. It made sense the same logic applied here.

So he sat down and stared at the floor.

Greg was currently wandering around, exploring the strange ship. When he was on one of these things before, it was very bland and full of advanced tech. But now, it looked much more lived-in, even if this was the ship’s first real flight. Personality decorated every inch of the once-blank walls, and filled every inch of it up with love. The man was in awe of just how much the space had changed, yet stayed exactly the same. Steven could see the look on his face as he took in every detail. The teen smiled to himself. It was a beautiful ship.

Connie was on his other side, currently staring out the window, scanning for a sign of anything that might be helpful. Her form had been tense the whole flight, even after the turbulance died back down again. Steven assumed she was just worried, but didn’t say anything so far. If she was worried, that was a good thing. That meant she cared about him, and it wasn’t really his place to tell her not to worry. Though, the few times he tried to strike up a conversation and make her happier, she brushed him off. It was starting to bug him, but again, he didn’t push. He didn’t want to create a problem when there wasn’t one.

His therapist had told him that he had two extremes when it came to his own self-image: he both hated himself, but also thought that he had to fix everything and was the only one who could do it and do it well. It was contradictory, yet complimentary at the same time. He had gotten to a point in his life where he saw himself as a tool more than a person, a multi-functional tool that was used purely to fix things. Dismantle an empire. Establish peace. Settle thousands-of-years-old conflicts between his guardians. Get others to like themselves. However, he never should have had to do that. It was fine to do so, but Steven tended to take everything to the extreme, either for good or bad. His therapist pointed out that he had become more of an Era 1 gem than even the Diamonds, or Holly Blue Agate, or even Eyeball were. He had a purpose, and was going to fulfill it.

That was all different now. Long talks with his doctor made him realize just how unhealthy that way of thinking was, and helped him turn it around. He genuinely liked who he was now. Not all the time, and certainly not in a good balance with times he didn’t like himself, but he was better. He was _doing_ better, and improving all the time. And through this improvement came the acknowledgement that he tended to see problems that didn’t really exist and then try to fix or solve them, which only created more problems. He had a worldview and wanted everything to fit into it, when in reality, that just couldn’t happen. That was why he didn’t say anything to Connie right now. That was also partly why he went on his road trip- to fully see the world for what it was and partake in it, allowing himself to drop the gem purpose thing and just relax.

He hoped that hadn’t just got thrown out the window. Oh, stars, he hoped.

Dad, Connie, Dr. Maheswaran, and his therapist had all warned him of relapses, told him to expect them and showed him different ways to overcome them in advance. He had already relapsed once, about a month after the ‘incident’ on the beach, but nothing too extreme happened and he was able to recover with help from the gems and Dad. Connie heard about it later and promised to help whenever he needed it, especially if that happened again. Thankfully, it hadn’t, or if he had relapsed, it wasn’t big enough that he noticed. He was doing so much better, and if his mind decided to turn on him again, he had the tools to fight back.

The only problem was that he was back in a fight for his life, which was different from both the recent meltdowns he’d had. Before, it was all a mental illusion he couldn’t break himself out of. Now, it was _very_ real. He was almost thankful his gem was gone, else he might go monster again. But he felt fine, and surprisingly numb to everything, as if it weren’t really happening. It was a strange state to be in, floating between reality and an illusion that everything was normal. Not fine, but normal. He knew logically that things were only going south, but for some reason, his mind couldn’t keep up with that.

Or maybe he was back to living under constant pressure and this was normal for him? Because that’s all he’d ever been doing until the Graduation thing? It was anyone’s guess at this point.

Steven’s new sword lay between he and Connie, the light coming from the center of the room’s ceiling glistening off the metallic surface. The edges were sharp, and should have been daunting, but in the soft blues and greens, it just looked shiny. And pretty. Peaceful was a good word for it.

Despite being calm, the night before had finally caught up with him, and just what kind of dire situation he was in. He still had no memory of what happened to him after his gem was removed until he had woken up on the couch, which just made it scarier. What if she’d done something else to him while he was out? He wanted to think about it, to try and remember, but his therapist’s word rang through his head.

_“It’s hard to think about traumatic events right after they happened. In your case, because of your emotional powers, you may want to take time to just relax and focus on ‘the now’ after the fact. If you feel like you can think about it without going pink, then you can try, but if it gets overwhelming, I want you to stop. Does that sound logical?”_

_“Yeah. I can do that.”_

So he didn’t think about it yet. Besides, he didn’t really want to break out of his weird calm right now, anyway.

Instead, his eyes travelled across the room, focusing on ‘ _the now’_ instead of what happened before. At the controls to Peridot’s ship, from left to right, were Bismuth, leaning over Pearl’s shoulder, Peridot, Garnet, and Amethyst. In front of him, leaning against the opposing wall, was Lapis, and near the back door was Dad, who was still scouting around.

After a second of looking around, he felt a strange tingle ride up his spine. He shivered. It was like when he got hit with the rejuvenator, except not nearly as painful. It just mostly felt weird. Steven blinked, wondering where that came from, and instinctively reached to touch his gem. His fingers rested on the lifeline, its surface too smooth and too big, but there, keeping him breathing. Steven closed his eyes, taking in a large breath of air, and after counting to three, released it.

He looked around the room again to see if anyone had witnessed this.

Greg caught his son’s eye. He’d been examining the interior of the ship for a few minutes now, but after seeing Steven’s tired expression, he gave a soft smile and started back towards his son’s side.

“Hey there, buddy,” he greeted, sliding down on the wall to sit next to him again. “How’re you holdin’ up?”

Steven shrugged. “I don’t know, to be honest. I feel like I should be a lot more… I dunno, _panicked_ about all this? But I’m not.”

Greg raised a brow, thinking. “Is it that numbness you told me about?”

“No, not that. I guess I just don’t know what to think right now.”

Greg gave him a side hug. “Do you want to talk about it? Maybe that’ll help.”

Steven shook his head. “I don’t know if I can without going pink.”

Greg blinked in confusion. “You can still go pink without your gem? Are you sure about that?”

“Wha-“ Steven’s brain had to take a second to catch up. “Oh, no no, I just mean I might have a panic attack, or something like that. I dunno…”

“Then you must be feeling _something_ if you’re that worried about it.”

“Sure, but that doesn’t mean I know what that _is.”_ Steven sighed, covering his eyes with a hand. After a second, he squeezed the bridge of his nose and dropped his hand back down to his side. “I just want to be done, y’know? I spent all that time getting better and traveling around, _being human,_ and for what?”

Greg sat up, getting in a better position to look his son in the eye. Steven noted a determination there that he hadn’t seen in a while, one that he realized he’d missed. “Well, you can’t let one setback throw you all the way back, right? Like you said, you’ve been getting better, all relapses aside. Bluebird can’t undo all of that progress, and there’s no reason to think that she can.”

Steven gave a weak, tired smile. “Thanks, Dad.” He willed with his whole being to believe him, but found he didn’t need to. It was getting easier.

Though, Garnet’s words from earlier still rang in his ears. _“Bluebird was a fusion built on hate for a singular, common enemy. Now that their enemy is defeated, they have no reason to stay fused.”_ Defeated. He wasn’t sure he liked that word. He knew, logically, that Garnet just meant that Bluebird thought she killed him, which was obviously not the case, but the word still stuck. _Defeated._

Defeated could mean many things. Like beaten in a game of chess, or losing in a video game. It was just a more extreme term for lose, right? And when you’ve lost, you can still get back up and gain back. He wasn’t defeated until he waved the white flag. And _whoops,_ he left his at home, so Steven Universe wasn’t defeated. Not today. He didn’t really have a choice, anyways. _Oops._

He smiled lightly to himself. He managed to take a negative train of thought and make it positive again, reassuring to himself that he was going to be okay. He had the tools he needed to be okay.

Greg returned the smile in kind, tousling some of Steven’s hair. “Anything for you, Schtu-ball.” He leaned back against the wall, wrapping an arm around Steven’s shoulder. “So, you have any exciting stories from your road trip you wanna share? How’s Mackinac been?”

Steven’s smile grew. He pushed himself up, too, turning fully towards his dad. “It’s been _great._ The locals say the weather can get really ‘wonky,’ as they say, but I haven’t seen anything too crazy there yet. The lakes are everywhere, and this time of the year, they’re all really warm. They’ve got a lot of nice neighborhoods, and everything just seems relaxed up there. Everybody’s been so nice, and… I’ve been thinking about sticking around for a bit.” He looked down, caught up in a fond memory. After a second, he perked up. “Oh! That reminds me!” He turned even more towards his dad, bending a leg a bit around him to get in a better position. “I wanted to catch Sadie and Shep in Landing! I have a couple of music questions for you guys.”

Greg’s grin widened. “Great! We’d love to have ya! When were you gonna stop by?”

Steven shrugged. “I dunno, whenever I get there, I guess. I’m taking it slow right now. But I’ve been keeping a music book! Aw, rats, I wish I had it with me right now. I’ve only had it for a few weeks but already I have so much in it! I wanted to talk to you guys about being a professional musician and traveling and just how to get into the industry and how many people show up a day? Does recognition ever get boring? How do you get a good record? I-“

“Woah woah, slow down there, Steven! I can’t keep up with you!” Greg laughed. “So, you thinking about a career in music?”

Steven nodded. “Yeah! I don’t know if it’s what I want to do just yet, but it’s definitely on the table.”

If there was a way for Greg’s smile to get wider, Steven didn’t know what it was.

The father wrapped his son in a hug, accidentally squeezing a bit too hard. Steven laughed in the embrace, trying to return it, but he sitting at an angle that made wrapping an arm around Greg difficult. So he awkwardly patted his arm instead, stars in both their eyes.

“Oh, Steven, this is great! I could show you all the best ways to set up a performance, or introduce you to some other famous people who could help you out. Sadie and Shep are gonna be so happy to hear this!”

“Greg! The lifeline!” Pearl’s stressed bark rang out across the room.

The two froze. Steven felt the devise- it hadn’t moved, barely even shifted. He blinked, but awkwardly pulled away from his dad anyway. Both Universes looked at each other for a moment before nervously rubbing the back of their necks, chuckling.

“Oops. Kinda forgot about that there for a sec,” Greg rolled his eyes, then shrugged in Pearl’s direction. “Sorry about that.”

Pearl mumbled something under her breath, but didn’t interject again.

Greg coughed lightly into a fist. “So, anyway, you find your sound yet?”

Steven gave his dad a knowing look. “Dad, I’ve had my sound since I was thirteen.”

“It could change!” Greg shrugged dramatically, raising his hands up to accompany the gesture. “Remember how Sadie’s sound changed after a couple of years? You’ve had enough time to change yours, too.”

Steven thought for a minute. Sure, he had been playing with the same sound for a while, but maybe he didn’t want to change it…? He looked up, getting an idea. “Well, what if I had no sound? Like, I purposefully made each song sound different from each other?”

“Mixed?” Greg mused. “Very few people have pulled that off successfully. You sure?”

“Nope, but it’s something I want to think about more.” He gasped. “What if each song told a part of a story? Like a musical!”

Lapis laughed in the background. “Your life is already a musical, Steven. Believe me, I know it and so does everyone else here.”

_“Life and death and love an birth,”_ Peridot sang from the driver’s seat, waving an arm to the familiar melody.

Greg and Lapis looked at each other, chuckling. Steven found himself laughing along. It was as if nothing was wrong at all.

Steven’s ear-to-ear smile felt more genuine than it had in a long time. Not that he didn’t like his road trip- he was very eager to get back to it- but just being with his family like this was something he’d always enjoyed. He decided then and there; they all needed to hang out more once things went back to normal.

Steven started swaying as music filled his heart. No one else could hear it, but he could. The accompaniment of a guitar and a piano, each in the key of B flat, complimenting each other as they each danced out a melody. He began humming along, words forming in his mind as he thought about what he wanted to sing.

_“In the day there are clouds,”_ he began. The room quieted as everyone paused to listen to Steven’s song. _“In the night there are stars. Some days are clearer than the ones before.”_ He leaned against his dad, meeting his eyes. _“I’ve gotten around, and I’ve travelled pretty far. Looking for balance can be great or a tiring chore.”_

He leaned away, sitting up tall. _“But I know it can be better. I’ve seen it happen myself. You all have seen me better, be it through warmth, joy, or wealth.”_

Lapis, standing across from him, began to clap her hands together to the beat. Pearl and Garnet quickly joined, and soon, mostly everyone was contributing to the instrumental is some way. Greg stomped a foot and snapped, while Amethyst started “woah”ing in the background. Bismuth watched with a grin, trying to mimic Amethyst’s vocals while creating harmony with her. Peridot pushed buttons that didn’t do anything at the moment, creating rhythmic beeps.

Steven grinned, feeling the support flowing in from all sides. He wanted to stand for the chorus, but remaining stubbornly on the ground (if only to make sure Pearl didn’t get on his case about it).

_“Nothing is holding me back now! I’ll keep shooting forward til the stars come out! And as light turns to dark, I’m sure my trail lights a spark. I’ll keep flying! Leave all those dark moments behind me!”_

Steven threw his arms out for emphasis, leaning side to side as if actually soaring through the air like a plane. Unbeknownst to the teen, Greg had to duck out of the way, but the man continued his ear to ear smile.

_“I’ve learned from my mistakes. I know how to be better. And I can feel it all coming together, now more than ever!”_

Everyone joined in as he began to sing a second rendition of the chorus. Pearl and Greg became backup singers, while still continuing their parts in the instrumental as well. Garnet jointed Amethyst in “woah”ing, while Bismuth provided counter vocals to reflect Steven’s singing.

_“Nothing is holding me back now! (Nothing!) I’ll keep shooting forward til the stars come out! (Til the stars shine!) And as light turns to dark, I’m sure my trail lights a spark. I’ll keep flying! (Flying!) Leave all those dark moments behind me!”_ He finally went against his better judgement and stood, flinging his arms out again. _“Behind me-e-e!”_

With a couple more rhythmic beeps, pats, and claps, the song ended. A moment of silence followed, then again quickly by joyous laughter.

_That one was pretty good, too,_ Steven thought to himself while being crushed in another father-given bear hug. _I’ll have to remember that when we get home._

However, the mood couldn’t last. A beeping noise sounded from Pearl’s controls, the shrill sound killing the laugher in the room. Heads turned to Pearl as the gem gasped, then immediately started clicking away at the panel. Peridot leaped from her chair, coming to stand next to her. Steven slid back down to the floor, still giddy with joy despite the circumstance.

“Is that it? Did you find it?” Peridot demanded, every hard-light muscle tensed.

Pearl nodded. “I think we found them. We were right, they’re using Homeworld to mask their exact location, but we’re getting closer.”

Garnet walked up behind them, accidentally blocking Steven’s view. “How far out are they from here?”

“Only a few AUs,” Peridot grinned. “We’ll have them in no time.”

“Aren’t they moving? Like, wouldn’t they see us coming?” Amethyst asked, also leaping over to observe the panel.

“That doesn’t matter,” Garnet replied sternly. “We know where they are. Now, we just have to not lose them.”

Steven felt a hug from the side. Greg had wrapped his arms around his son again, joyful.

“This is it,” he said, speaking just above a whisper. “This can finally be over.”

Steven returned the embrace, but he found he couldn’t make it genuine. His eyes had travelled to Connie, who had been strangely silent throughout their conversation, and he now realized, the song. Strange; she usually loved trying to join in. She had reached down and grabbed the hilt of the sword, her thumb rubbing repeated circles on the handle. She continued to stare out the window, a frown on her face, searching for the first sign of anything.

Steven frowned just a bit, but he managed a fake look of calm for her. Nothing too extreme, just enough. He reached over and tapped her shoulder. The girl reflexively stiffened, but relaxed once she heard his voice.

“Hey Connie, you can relax now,” Steven coaxed. “Things are going to be fine here really soon. Okay? We just sang a song about it and everything.”

Without turning to look at him, Connie’s shoulders fell back into a more cautious pose. “Yeah, you’re right. Soon.” She continued to watch the sky.

Steven’s eyes travelled to the stars with hers, now searching for anything that might be a ship. Instinctively, he reached out for his gem half, and after a minute or so of searching, also saw stars, but on his end, they were tainted yellow. Despite that, the kid smiled lightly. It was much easier to connect this time. They would see each other again soon, refuse, and go back to healing. His double vision filled with twilight, Steven pushed himself closer to Connie and wrapped an arm around her.

A voice told him this would be romantic if not for obvious setbacks.

Connie, in response to his touch, relaxed just a bit more, and even turned her head slightly to look at him from the corner of her eye. Their eyes met, and just the smallest smile crossed her lips.

Yeah. Things will be better soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am terrible at writing fluff help me-
> 
> Sorry this is late! I honestly have no excuse, i put it off. Not doing the same on Saturday. I’m going to try and write a chapter ahead just in case something like this happens again. Feel free to yell at me every time I miss a deadline.
> 
> Anyways, I’d like to meta chat about Steven’s split eyes for a second. He cannot hear what his other half is hearing, he can only see. They are also connected physically, but very faintly. It’d take some strong force in order for the other half to feel it, like we saw here with the forcefield. 
> 
> I’m going to try and make the whole I-can-see-through-my-other-half’s-eyes thing NOT a plot devise unless it’s the logical thing to do. Like, it’s not going to solve everyone’s problems. I’m mostly just using it so Steven can check up on himself every now-and-then. But he isn’t constantly looking though his other half’s eyes- that takes concentration and makes it harder to focus on his real surroundings. Which is why Gem does it so much easier than Human does.
> 
> Anyways. Leave a comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> (UPDATE 7/19/2020 (cont.): I love writing songs. I’ve written a few originals before, but the only one I feel really good about is a FNaF VR fan song called “Your Disgrace,” which I need to redo the vocals for. What I have released right now is more of a demo than anything. But that’s easy! I still have the instrumental for it! But that’s besides the point. For now, I wanna go into a bit of detail regarding some changes I made. This is gonna be one of the longer notes, so strap in (or just skip to the next chapter, I don’t mind. It’s your time, do what you want with it.)
> 
> First off, I love Bluebird as a character. She’s just so much fun and a real goofball, despite trying to be a legit threat. Which she can be! Aquamarine and Eyeball were two of Steven’s more formidable foes, so I find it hilarious that, when paired with each other, they can’t do anything very well together. Aqua’s drama and enthusiasm mixed with Eyeball’s rage and determination creates an unstable fusion that likes flare and drama, but doesn’t have the combat skills necessary to actually pose a threat. Which is fascinating to me. She as a character can go screw off lmao.
> 
> Gem Steven is... complicated. I don’t want to say too much, but his whole thing is something to look into. I imagine that, because by all accounts they’re the same person- they each are connected to each other and are a part of each other, but their personality got cut in half. Human has the emotions, gem has the power. Both Stevens have both, but they are very disconnected to their other half separated. I believe this is why, when they touch in “Change Your Mind,” Gem smiles and Human gets a bit stronger. Because of the physical contact to their other half, it leaks over and their minds align a bit more. It’s going to be the same thing here.
> 
> As for the song, I hope it wasn’t too cheesy. I just wanted to write something that Steven would be thinking in that moment, where everything is going to be okay and he’s in this illusion of emotion that things ARE okay, even if he knows logically that they aren’t (again, the link it skewered due to being split, but more on that later). It was a TON of fun to write, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it!
> 
> And yes, that was a 95% completely original song! I say 95% because there is a reference to another SU song in there. Can you spot it?
> 
> Okay, I’m done. Remember to drop a comment if you enjoyed, and stay awesome! Happy Pride Month, happy Father’s Day, and happy Juneteenth! You all are beautiful and valid. <3 )


	7. Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steven offers help, but also seeks it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this wasn’t beta read. Feel free to laugh at me in the comments.
> 
> Now enjoy!
> 
> (UPDATE 7/22/2020: Last chapter before things go back to normal! WOOT WOOT! So, mostly everything stayed the same, although I did experiment with Peridot’s point of view. I also added a bit more banter between Steven (human) and Lars, because there was a scene in my head that I wanted to write really badly once I had the idea for it. I have officially revised everything, so please don’t laugh at me down in the comments lmao. Or do. I’m not your mom. Notes are continued at the end!)

Welp. They were doomed.

Only about five Earthen moments had passed, but it was sufficient enough to confirm Peridot’s fears: Emerald’s ship was faster than theirs. She was keeping just ahead of them, just out of reach. Did she know they were coming? Or was it just coincidence?

If Peri’s knowledge of starships was correct, than Emerald would be using the same tracking equipment as they were. It was the newer model, after all, and Emeralds tended to be perfectionists. In that way, Peri could connect to her. However, they were also far too bossy and self-absorbed for her, and she was not thrilled to be meeting the captain anytime soon.

Her choice of tracking equipment was a weakness just as much as it was Peri’s team’s strength: if Emerald really was looking for them, she wouldn’t know how far out they were. They weren’t close enough to appear on her screen yet, and so to Emerald, they would just be a blinking dot on the edge of the radar that gradually got slightly bigger or smaller depending on the difference in distance.

And right now, Emerald’s dot was getting a bit smaller.

It had only recently started moving, which made sense as Emerald’s tracker would have detected them at the exact same time Pearl’s detected Emerald. If Peridot’s theory of her having the same equipment stood, anyway, which she saw no reason why it wouldn’t. It just made sense for a high-class, self-respecting gem to have the latest and greatest.

Peridot tapped at button after annoying flashing button, trying to work her way around the ship’s engines to make it go faster but not too fast. Pearl leaned over her shoulder, sensing what she was trying to do and following along. Both were currently out of ideas, so she watched quietly, scanning for anything Peridot might have missed.

The ship was infuriatingly quiet after the song, and the green gem really wished Steven would start singing again. He could start screaming heavy metal, and it’d be better than just this silence. But Peridot was currently focused elsewhere and time was of the essence, so she didn’t say anything.

“Hey, Garnet,” Steven eventually spoke up.

Instantly, heads turned towards him. Peridot dropped what she was working on to turn more towards him, just in case there was something she could do to help. His voice had sounded unsure, and shaky, which meant he was nervous about something is her memory served her. And being the good friend who respected him so much, she would do anything in her power to make that unease in his voice go away!

Garnet had also turned towards him. She had her arms crossed and was leaning against the wall not too far away. Tech wasn’t her strong suit, so she was trusting her crew to figure it out from there.

The teen took another moment to gather his thoughts, frowning at the floor. With a kick to her metaphorical gut, Peridot realized it was a very similar look to the one he’d had after that first dream about a year ago, when they had tried remaking Camp Pining Hearts. Why was he making that face? She needed to do more research into human reaction and brain physiology when they got back to Earth. Whatever that look meant, it couldn’t be good.

After a deep breath, the teen continued. “What do you think Emerald wants with my gem? Since he’s alive and unbubbled, that means she must want something from him, right? Or she would have… broke him by now.” He squeezed his opposing arm in discomfort.

Oh. Peridot hadn’t even thought about that.

Garnet raised a hand to her visor, which Peri had learned long ago meant that she was checking her future vision, and after a brief moment of silence, she stood up and walked over to Steven. Greg shifted out of the way to make room for her as she knelt down, getting closer to his level on the floor. He was still close enough to rub a hand against his son’s back, to which a small smile appeared on his face for a second.

How was Greg so good at comforting him just by touch? Peridot needed to do more research when they got back to Earth (and ask him, maybe. Greg must know, right?).

Garnet placed her hands on her knees, trying to relax her form as much as she could. “The truth is, I’m not sure,” she murmured, loud enough for all to hear but soft enough so that they all had to strain (except for the three humans in front of the maroon gem). “Your gem is a part of you, and therefore, your opinions and ideas should stay relatively the same. And if she already knew that, then she wants something else from him that isn’t just you.”

Steven looked down, processing that for a moment. “So, you think she wants his power, or something? How does that even work?” He frowned again, then gasped. “She isn’t gonna try to FORCE him to do anything, is she?!”

Despite herself, Peridot scoffed. “Force YOU to do anything? Steven, in case you haven’t noticed, you tend to stick to your own beliefs like glue to wood! Or a magnet to metal! Which means that no matter what happens, your gem will not hurt anyone. And you’re a _Diamond,_ which means she physically can’t _make_ you do anything. You’d overpower her in an instant!”

Steven raised a hand to his cheek, looking down again. “That’s not what I…”

Peridot blinked. What else could he mean? He said it himself. What was she not getting?

Garnet shook her head lightly, placing a hand on Steven’s shoulder to calm him down again. “Like I said, I don’t know. That might not even be it at all. There’s too many missing variables, too many things I don’t know about her. I’ve never met this gem, and neither has anyone else here except for you and Connie.” She turned her head towards the girl in question.

Connie had remained with her eyes outside. She barely reacted when they said her name, though her arms did wrap a bit more firmly around her bunched-up knees. One arm remained there, while the other had snuck down at some point to grip the handle of the new sword for Steven.

Peri watched as Steven followed Garnet’s gaze, and once it hit Connie, he frowned again. How was he suddenly in such a bad mood?

“I can’t predict what will happen because I don’t know,” Garnet continued, drawing eyes back to her. “Emerald might just want him to show off to others, or she may want something more extreme. There is no way for anyone here to know.”

Steven blinked. “So, only Connie or I could really give you a good answer since we’re the ones who know her, right?”

Garnet gave a stout nod.

“Hmm.” Steven brought a hand up to his chin, thinking.

“Wait,” Greg spoke up, bringing a finger up to his mouth in thought. “Wasn’t there a time where you and Connie went missing for a while after you met Emerald? Got lost on a moon, I think you said?”

Steven nodded. “Yeah, the jungle moon.”

Greg snapped his fingers. “That’s it! Then someone came, found you, and you came home after that.”

Steven gasped, understanding. “Lars! He knows Emerald better than anyone!”

Pearl touched Peri’s shoulder, turning the green gem’s attention to her. “Peridot, is there a way to contact Captain Lars on this ship?”

Steven shrugged, rubbing a hand behind his neck. “Usually, I’d Astro-project and talk to him in his dreams or something. But I ah…” he gave a nervous chuckle, “well, y’know.”

“Well, yeah, why wouldn’t I have the latest and greatest communications software on-the-ready for when I wanted to talk to my favorite Steven while Lapis and I were off exploring the farthest reaches of uncharted space?” Peridot shot back smugly, crossing her arms and legs across each other in one, smooth motion.

(“Wait, what?” Lapis looked up from her spot by the door.)

Peri raised a brow, giving Pearl her signature _’_ _I am smarter than everyone in this room at this moment, listen to me underlings’_ look. “This ship is equipped with the fast-paced communications providers of Era 3, freshly created out of Homeworld’s greatest technology factories in Sector 5! It can reach distances of over 200 AUs in approximately a minute, and the audio actually sounds nice, unlike those Era 2 designs!” She waved her hand dismissively out in front of her in mock disgust, only to give Pearl a half-lidded grin of accomplishment.

Pearl rolled her eyes playfully.

Peridot got up, walking a bit down the panel until she found what she was looking for. “Nyeheheh…” she chuckled to herself, pulling out what looked like a smaller version of a Diamond Line, painted a light shade of peridot green on half the sides, and a lapis light blue on the others.

Garnet has since stood and had walked over to Peridot, putting a hand on the smaller gem’s shoulder. “Can it contact Captain Lars without his knowing beforehand that you wanted to talk?”

“Oh, certainly. Just one moment.” She spun the devise, turning it so different sides touched, and a mini screen appeared as the halves of the diamond split apart and away from each other. Peri tapped at the screen, little beeping noises emanating from it as she searched for Lars’ ship. After a few short seconds, she let out an excited “aha!” and pressed a button with the Sun Incinerator on it, then hit a larger button with Steven’s pink-skinned friend’s face on it. Dialing tones began to buzz from it, along with soft Earthen music that Peridot had enjoyed.

The room groaned as surfer beach music began to play, the same track from the bathroom after Lazuli left right before the Diamonds showed up that one time when Peri had been ‘depressed’. The green gem didn’t pay them any mind: they had their musical interests, and she had hers.

All they could do now was wait.

* * *

Steven watched the scene play out before him, and found it was getting hard to focus on anything. His gem was still very much gone, and Emerald was getting away, and she might have this horrible plan to make him do terrible things and take over the Gempire and oh gosh it was getting hard to breathe was his brain finally registering how much _danger he was in right now and oh no make it stop-!_

His eyes drifted back to Connie, and he began to take notice to her demeanor. She was sitting ridged, and had scarcely moved the whole trip. It must mean she was worried, but still, Steven’s heart ached. He knew there was something going on. He knew his Jam Bud too well to know that this wasn’t just him creating a problem so he could solve it. Something was seriously off about her.

And just like that, all his own needs and fears melted away into the background. He knew it was bad, but someone else needed him right now. Hopefully this didn’t count as going back to how he was before...

He inched closer to her again, not too much, but enough that he hoped he caught her attention. “Hey, Connie,” he began lightly. “You… doing okay? You’ve been awfully quiet.”

“Oh, hey Steven.” She barely even reacted. “Sorry, I’ve just been busy. Watching for Emerald. You know.”

Steven followed her gaze to outside, watching a planet pass by a bit too quickly against the non-moving sky. “Weeeell, you can stop now!” he exclaimed, maybe a bit too cheerfully. “The gems have Emerald in their sights. As soon as she’s close to being in view, they’ll say something. You don’t have to keep watch.”

Connie sighed, annoyed, tilting her head down and squeezing her eyes shut. “I _know._ But I want to keep looking, too. You’re out there somewhere.”

“But I’m right here, too,” Steven gently nudged her, trying to get her to at least face him. When she didn’t, he grinned a smug grin she wouldn’t be able to see from this angle. He straightened, taking on a more confident pose. “I know I’m not the full package or anything, but half is better than nothing, right?” He winked at her back.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Her voice wasn’t flat anymore, so that was good, right? Even if there was no other reaction out of her?

Steven took a deep breath, working up the courage to sit next to her. Her eyes darted quickly away from the window, just to watch as he adjusted himself beside her, but once she realized what he was doing, her gaze was once more on space. She tensed, hand gripping the sword tighter and tighter.

He gently pulled her hand off the hilt of the sword, with surprisingly little fight, and moved the weapon back. Connie broke her gaze from the sky to watch the weapon shift out of her reach, not tearing her sight off of it until it had stopped moving. Steven then took its former spot, resting a palm on top of her hand. “It means that I want to talk with you.” He sighed, looking Connie in the eye. “Con, I noticed that you’re really tense. I just… besides me being split in half, what’s wrong?”

It hurt seeing her like this. She must not have been blinking very often, because her eyes were _red._ She didn’t seem like she’d been crying, though. She had traces of bags under her eyes, and her brown eyes were small. Scared. Tension creased her every feature, and she looked like she just wanted to turn and go back to staring at the sky.

She looked at Steven like he’d asked something outlandish. “Wh- Steven, _no._ Don’t you _dare_ start doing that again. The whole point of going on your trip was to worry about _you_ for a while, not anyone else.” She pointed a finger at him accusingly. “You’re still on it, don’t you forget.”

Steven frowned. “Just because I’m worrying about me _more_ doesn’t mean I have to just stop caring about _you._ ” He lifted her hand up, meeting her eyes pleadingly. “Connie, you have to tell me what’s wrong. I _want_ to help.”

“No. That’s not your responsibility.” She looked back up at the stars again. “You deserve a break. And I’m not going to be the one who drags you back down again.”

Steven’s frown deepened as he realized why everything had felt so off. “Connie, you sound like I did before-“

“Steven! Lars is on the line!” Pearl’s announcement cut him off, and on instinct, he broke his gaze from Connie to her. She was standing next to the screen of a communicator, and tinted green on the other end of the line, was a familiar-looking face.

“Uhh, okay. Be right there.” Steven gave his friend a small smile before turning back to Connie. “It’s okay to talk about it. I want to help you, Connie.”

“No. I want to help you.” Connie frowned at the sky. “This is how I’m gonna do it.”

Steven dug around for something to say, but couldn’t find the right words. Instead, he stood up. “This isn’t over,” he announced softly, just loud enough for her to hear. Connie almost looked hurt, but shook her head and focused even harder on the night outside the window.

Steven walked over to the panel. Greg, Garnet, Peridot, Pearl, and Lapis were already gathered around, waiting. Lars was on-screen, back in his pirate outfit from all those years ago. Steven smiled at him, genuinely happy to see him again.

“Hey, Lars! How’s it been?” Steven waved, coming to a stop in front of the screen.

“Hey man! Nice to see you again. It’s been going pretty good out here. Rhodonite keeps accidentally locking us out of the ship, but other than that, we’ve been having fun.” Lars rolled his eyes playfully, crossing his arms.

Steven laughed. “I’m glad.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt this friendly conversation,” Peridot cut in, “but there was a reason we contacted you. Steven’s dying and we need your help.”

Lars’ face dropped like a hailstone. “Wh-what?! What do you mean _‘dying’_? St-Steven,” he sputtered, looking around wildly as he tried to come up with something to say, “c-c’mon man, I appreciate a good prank call, but-!”

“Lars, Lars, I’m okay! For now.” Steven held up his hands, waving them around a bit as if that could possible reassure him. “But, yeah, we uh… you wouldn’t mind lending us a hand, would you?”

“‘Course not!” the space pirate practically shouted. “What do you need?”

“You remember Emerald, right?” Steven thumbed the line of his jacket.

Lars crossed his arms again, letting out a mock huff of annoyance. “Ye-ha-ha, who could forget her?” He shook his head in faux disbelief. “Something straight outta a TV show.”

“Well, she stole my gem.”

Lars blinked. “…What?”

“She stole-“

“No I heard you, I just… _Emerald_ stole it?”

“Not exactly. She sent Bluebird out to do it.”

Lars ran a hand through his hair. “Bluebird? The fusion who tried to trick you into liking her?”

“Yep. She’s the one.”

Lars laughed. “If you told me Paddy was a villain, I’d believe you faster than I’d believe that those two have any coordination at all, especially with each other.”

Steven groaned, throwing his head back. “I knoooooow! It’s like, how in stars did those two even look at each other without fighting each other? How did they get so determined to hate me that they willingly worked with each other?” He facepalmed, then chuckled. “Honestly, I’d like to know how they met. You think they went in weapons swinging?”

Lars laughed, too. “Definitely. Got to screaming about how frusterated they were and somehow brought you up.”

Steven could suddenly see the entire scenario in his head. He placed the back of his hand on his forehead dramatically, taking on an air similar to Aqua’s. “Oh, Eyeball, you’re so hard to beat! I bet Steven would be easier to fight than you!”

Lars did the same, gasping. “Are you saying I couldn’t take Steven and win?”

“Oh I bet!”

“Wanna try?”

“What a splendid idea! Let’s!”

“You may now fuse with your new friend,” Lars grinned at him, holding out a hand as if to actually do it.

The two broke out laughing, thinking about the implications of those two coming to the realization that working together with each other would be better than literally any other gem in the universe that didn’t agree with Era 3 ways.

“Lars! Steven! This is serious!” Pearl crossed her arms at the two of them. “How are you just laughing about this?”

Steven rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. This is serious and we all should be miserab;e until it’s all over, I know.”

Pearl’s glare hardened for a moment, before she rolled her eyes and dropped it.

“So anyways, Lars,” Steven began, regaining his composure, “I need you to help us out. We don’t know what Emerald wants, just that she has my gem and unbubbled him. She hadn’t shattered him, or really hurt him in any way, which means…”

“…She wants something from you,” Lars finished. He brought a gloved finger up to his chin in thought, mulling that implication over in his mind. “Hmm. Do you need me to go fight her off or something?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that!” Steven waved his hands in front of him in reassurance. “We just want to know if you might know what she wants? We’re going to get him back, but what if we’re walking into a trap or something?”

“Plus, she may not be expecting us at all,” Lapis chimed in. “She seems pretty self-absorbed from what I’ve heard.”

Lars thought for a minute, then slowly shook his head. “Sorry, no. Nothing comes to mind. I would have thought she’d keep him bubbled. She loves collecting precious items, even if they mean nothing to her, so I’d have thought she’d keep him in a crystal ball or something like that. Did the bubble pop on accident?”

“We don’t know. We didn’t see it happen,” Garnet replied. “That is a possibility.”

“He’s in a cell of some kind,” Steven pointed out. “She must have been expecting it.”

Lars shook his head. “Sorry, guys, I don’t really know what she might want with him. Besides maybe just having him on display, I guess. Y’know, power ‘n all that.” He waved a hand around in a circle to emphasize his point. “But that doesn’t seem like something she’d really do.” He turned back to the camera. “I want to help you guys out. Where are you? Do you know where she is?”

Peridot nodded. “She’s heading towards Homeworld from Earth’s direction.”

“Masking her location?”

Pearl gave a singular nod.

Lars grinned. “Well, using that strategy, she can be seen from literally any other angle of approach. We’ll be able to find her, easy. We’re a bit far away at the moment, but we can be there in an hour, tops! Assuming the engine is working, that is.” He rubbed the back of his head, then turned to look somewhere off screen. “FLUORITE! Is the engine working?”

“…All… systems… are… operational…” Fluorite’s slow, deep voice replied back from somewhere.

“Sweet!” Lars turned back to the screen, a familiar glint in his eye. “Alright! We’ll be over there as soon as we can! We’ll get the ship up and running, and I’ll call back once we’re on the way. Until then, Peridot, mind sending me your coordinates?”

“Already on it!” The green gem announced, frantically typing at her panel once again.

Steven sighed in relief, his own smile growing. “Awesome! See you soon!”

Lars pointed finger guns at him, winking, as the feed cut out.

* * *

After the communicator had shut down completely and was restored back in the safety of his pocket, Lars dropped the smile. He took in a deep breath, relishing the crisp air, then turned to his crew.

They were sitting a little ways away, swapping stories around a fire. The flames burned blue against the purple tint of the planet they were currently on, standing out from everything else. It was nighttime here, masking every feature in a dark blue haze. The gang laughed at something the Rutile twins said, and Rhodonite was quick with a comeback of her own. After a second, Paddy laughed, too, covering her mouth over her giggles.

Lars smiled inwardly. He loved them all, with everything he had. Those gems over there- the Rutile twins, Rhodonite, Padparadscha, and Fluorite- had all been with him for so many adventures, and there were always more to spare. It seems like they had just found their next one. Lars only wished it were on better circumstances.

He walked up to them, boots stepping on the ground lightly. His cape billowed behind him in a breeze that swept lightly through the trees nearby, shaking the stiff, square-shaped leaves around, creating an alien rattling noise.

Rhodonite saw him coming, and was able to quickly read his face. “Captain Lars? Is something the matter?”

Lars nodded. “Steven’s in trouble. We gotta go face off against Emerald one more time to save him.” He smirked. “Who’s ready for a space adventure?”

“We’re with you!” “Right behind you!” The Rutile twins announced, standing.

“Me too!” Rhodonite followed, leaping to her feet.

“We’ll… get… Emerald… yet…!” Fluorite declared, grinning. She gave a fist pump in excitement.

“I predict that Captain Lars has another dangerous adventure for us!” Paddy smiled innocently. She also stood, moving her clasped hands up to her chest as she turned toward him.

“Great!” Lars spun around dramatically, pointing towards something hidden in the shadows. His cape billowed behind him in an unfelt wind to the rest of them. “TO THE SHIP!”

The Twins pulled out what looked like car keys and clicked a button. The shadows lit up immediately, outlining the figure of the Sun Incinerator. The ship was rather large, large enough to fit Fluorite comfortably, which meant hiding it was a difficult task. On this planet, however, the trees were super tall and spread out, almost like a cartoony, stylized video game. Most plants were squares, and they were able to wrap around the ship like a geometric hug.

The door appeared as light flooded through the broken seal, outlining it. It fell towards the ground, landing gracefully as a stairway. Dust blew out and away, standing out green against the harsh lighting and soft blue of the rest of the planet. Lars bolted up, followed quickly by Rhodonite (who was holding Padparadscha’s hand), the Twins, and finally, Fluorite. The large fusion shut the door, the walkway disappearing into the wall as the steps folded inward, and the ship’s engine revved on. On instinct, Lars smiled at the sound of a functioning engine.

“I’ll get the thrusters on!” Rhodonite announced, rushing down a hall to the engine dock.

“We’ll get the diagnostics done,” the Rutiles added on, running in the opposite direction.

“I’ll… head… to… the main… room…” Fluorite chimed in. She began moving that way, up a set of stairs.

“Perfect. I’ll be right behind you.” Lars watched his crew scatter, then turned to the littlest one still standing by his feet.

Paddy looked ahead, still smiling. Lars crouched in front of her, looking into where he knew her eye was. “Padparadscha, I need you to think about Emerald for a minute. Can you tell me anything about her?”

Paddy blinked under her bangs. After a moment of hesitation, she instead said; “I predict that Steven will want to talk to you.”

Lars nodded. “Yeah, we just talked. He’s in trouble, and-“

“Twice!” Paddy gasped, cutting him off. “He really misses you.”

“Huh?” Lars pulled out his communicator again, and saw it blinking. Someone wanted to come through. Cocking a brow, Lars opened it up.

Instead of a usual home screen, like on a cell phone, he was greeted with an image of Steven while going full-pink. Except, the main difference was that his clothing was also pink. Normally, his clothes stayed unaffected during those times, so they stuck out like a sore thumb against the pitch black of the background. Lars blinked a few times, trying to take it in.

“Steven? Is that you?”

“Lars.” Steven’s tone was flat. He stood ridged, not even blinking, and looked his friend in the eyes. Something about that unnerved the captain, but he tried not to let it show.

“Uhh, hey buddy. Did you need something else?”

“I need your help.”

Lars took a step back in confusion. “Uhh, I know. You already told me that…?”

Steven’s eyebrows lifted a bit, as though surprised.

“You didn’t get amnesia too, did you?”

“No. I am Steven’s gem half.”

“Ah.” Lars relaxed a bit. “It’s good to know you’re okay. Uhh, how are you talking to me right now? Your other half told me you would be in a prison cell.”

“I am. I am broadcasting to your communicator.” The gem stated it as though that were common knowledge. “I already talked to you, then. How much do you know?”

Lars shrugged. “I know that Bluebird stole your gem, she’s working with Emerald, and that you’re in a prison cell. Emerald unbubbled you for some reason, and you’re probably not going to be shattered. She wants something from you, and we’re trying to figure out what.”

“Good.” Steven’s gem half barely moved, but his eyes shifted to look at something else Lars couldn’t see. “Emerald has a plan. She wants to end Era 3. Bluebird said so.”

Lars froze. “E-end Era 3? But the Eras are determined by the Diamonds…” He frowned, a realization dawning on him. “Y-you don’t think she wants to _shatter the Diamonds,_ do you?”

Steven said nothing in response, but his silence was more than a confirm for Lars.

“Great. Just great!” He threw his hands in the air in frustration. “Do you know how she plans to do it? Who else is working with her? Does your human half know?”

Gem Steven shook his head. “I do not have that information. I’ve told you what I know.”

Lars shook his head in shock. “W-well, where are you? Are you at least safe?”

“I am asleep on the ground. When I’m done talking to you, I will wake up.”

Lars nodded. “Good. Stay safe, okay? I’m gonna give Steven a ring and let him know.”

“No.”

Lars recoiled as if he’d been physically struck. “What?! Why not?”

“My human half’s emotions. We need to fuse back together. When we do, our memory will combine. Then he’ll know everything. If you tell him now, he might become distracted.”

“Distracted?” Lars repeated. He crossed his arms. “What do you mean ‘distracted’?”

“The Diamonds. He might want to protect them. But I don’t know if they’re even involved at all. Don’t make him worried. He has other problems to deal with.”

Lars frowned. “Steven, you sound a lot like you did before the whole… y’know.” He shrugged, not wanting to say the words aloud. There was no telling how the seemingly emotionless powerhouse would react. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Our top priority is fusing back together again. We can worry about everything else later.”

Lars sighed, defeated. “Fine. But your human half isn’t gonna like knowing he was kept in the dark about something like that.”

“That will have to do.”

Suddenly, the feed cut out. Lars blinked, looking around for what may have caused the signal interruption, only to see his home screen appear. Steven had ended the call himself.

The captain stood there, processing all that. The end of Era 3… who knows what Emerald wanted to do after that. What did she want to do that would be so big, it’d impact Gem culture like that? Era 3 only just began! He knew she was a bit nuts, but this was ridiculous.

“I predict that Steven is in trouble,” Paddy announced from beside him, snapping him out of his thoughts. “In more ways than one if he isn’t careful.”

Lars grunted in agreement, anger festering towards his stupid gem half. “Yeah. He better know what he’s doing,” he grumbled. Shaking his head, he reached down and grasped the orange gem’s hand. “C’mon, Paddy, let’s go see if Fluorite got everything ready up there.” Gently, he lead her up the stairs, mulling over what Steven had said.

Like the gem said: their top priority was getting both halves together again. He could rat the gem half out later if Steven didn’t do so himself. For now, he had friends to save.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lars is here! Woot!
> 
> I really hope the whole Gem-shows-up-outta-nowhere thing didn’t feel too unnatural. Like I said before, both Stevens share the same ideologies and ideas, so when one Steven decided to reach out to Lars, so did the other. It’s a bit weird to explain, and Gem had his own train of thought to get there (which is why it took him longer), but they are still the same person, so I guess it does make sense? Idk. You tell me.
> 
> If, at any point, you feel like I’m pulling stuff out of the air, let me know. Some of it will be either foreshadowing or show-don’t-tell, but I just want to be sure everything at least makes a bit of sense when I do something like this.
> 
> Anyways. Tell me what you thought and I’ll see you all on Wednesday!
> 
> (UPDATE 7/22/2020 (cont.): So Gem Steven is officially one of my favorite things to write. Idk, his whole lack of anything is hard to portray, but so much fun. Also I like Lars’ character and want to have more fun with him. Plus, bonus PTSD finally catching up with Human as he finally really starts to come to grips with what’s happening and it’s starting to really feel real. Aka I finally learned how to get over my dumb fear of being cheesy while writing a scene like that. It’ll come back, and stronger, don’t worry. 
> 
> (Not a whole lot changed, and Lars and Gem Steven’s conversation barely changed at all. I did add a bit of dialogue for Paddy bc she deserves it and I love her too, and I want to give the Off-Colors more time to shine as the story goes on.
> 
> (We haven’t roped in all the characters I want to yet! We will, but we’ve gotta work our way up to them! Don’t worry, more familiar faces will be appearing later down the line!
> 
> (All that said, back to our regularly scheduled (but not really!) show! Strap in, folks! HERE WE GO! :D)


	8. Not a Chapter (Please read)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Schedule changes, backtracking, and character development. That and more. (Not a long post, please read)
> 
> I will delete this once I complete and upload the next chapter.

Hey y’all. It’s super late and I’m gonna keep this short.

I don’t think the schedule thing is gonna work. I don’t have the capacity to really focus on writing a chapter only to hold onto it, even though the one time I did that, it worked out really well. I keep putting them off, mostly BC I don’t have time to write, and that leads to me sloppily throwing something together to publish for y’all. I haven’t been satisfied with the last 2 chapters, and the last one I didn’t even proofread. 

So, for the sake of my own sanity and the quality of this fic, I’m going to cut the schedule. This fic will update when it updates.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m excited to show this story, but it’s suffering. I want to take a more thought-out look at all the characters, and having a time limit is really affecting my ability to do that. 

I need to look into Connie a bit more, both in the fic and as just a character analysis, and I want to do that soon, but if I keep pressing on like I am, I might not do it at all, and I hate the idea that could be the case. Connie’s going through a lot right now, and she doesn’t have the toolbox to help her fix it. I don’t wanna say too much, but she’s handling things in her own way.

Steven, too, needs a lot more depth than I’ve been able to give him. All the characters do, but him especially. He is not completely healed, this is a traumatic situation, and I struggle with going in-depth into a character’s psyche while they’re stressed/panicking while still making it enjoyable, make sense, and not be clichè/cheesy. Meta, this is why Steven is currently so relaxed. In-story, I have another explination, but I can’t get there and write it out effectively at the rate I’m going.

I want to include more Connverse and Bispearl, as well as just other character interactions.

My current plan is to go back and revise what I’ve written so far and just make it better. The second chapter felt rushed, and I think the only chapter I’m over 90% happy with is Chapter 1. That’s not good.

So, for now, please bear with me. I’m really behind, I’m stressed out, outta time, and need to focus on quality over quantity.

I hope you all understand, and thanks for listening to me ramble.

For now, I don’t think I’ve thanked you all for all the kind words you’ve said to me! That, the kudos, and the bookmarks, I just- thank you all so much! I’m glad you’re enjoying the story so far! Thanks for sticking with me, too. I hope I can do better, even if it means completely rewriting certain chapters lol (*cough* Chapter 2 *cough*). 

Tell me your thoughts. What do you want to see more of, story or characters? Maybe a certain interaction? What do you think needs to be said? And most importantly, how do you think I can do better. I’m open to critique, and always will be.

Thanks again, y’all. You all are awesome, please don’t stop being that way. <3

Tl;dr: No more schedule, I’m going to change up previous chapters, I’m going to focus on characters moreso than action for a while bc the way this is being written as it stands it killing me.


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